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AN 



ESSAY 



ORIGINAL GENIUS AND WRITINGS 



HOME R: 



A COMPARATIVE VIEW 



Cp Ancient ann tlrrentt SbUtt of tt>t STroatre. 



BY THE LATE 

ROBERT WOOD, Esq. 

AUTHOR OF THE DESCRIPTIONS OF PALMYRA AND BALBEC, 






LONDON; 

JOHN RICHARDSON, ROYAL EXCHANGE 

AND RICHARD NEWBY, CAMBRIDGE. 

1824. 






Printed by J. F, Dove, St. John»» Squar*. 



TO THE READER. 



Having, in my Preface to the Ruins of Palmyra, 
informed the Reader, that one of the objects of our 
Eastern voyages was to visit one of the most cele- 
brated scenes of ancient story, in order to compare 
their present appearance with the early classical 
ideas we had conceived of them ; and particularly, 
that we proposed to read the Iliad and Odyssey in 
the countries, where Achilles fought, where Ulysses 
travelled, and where Homer sung; I considered 
myself in some sort accountable to the public, and 
my friends, for the result of this part of our scheme: 
and therefore determined to employ my first leisure 
in throwing together such observations, as this in- 
quiry had furnished ; confining my first Essay of 
this kind to what concerns the Greek Poet. 

But, however ambitious I was to engage in the 
cause of Homer, the difficulties I found as to the 
manner of doing him justice, greatly embarrassed 
me. For though our expectations from this object 
of our curiosity were by no means disappointed, yet 
I almost despaired of a satisfactory method of con- 
veying to others a tolerable idea of the entertain- 
ment we received from it on the spot. I must ac- 
knowledge, that those difficulties may, with great 
justice, be charged to my own account, rather than 
to that of my subject ; for they do not arise so much 

a 2 



4 TO THE READER. 

from a scarcity, as from an exuberance of matter, 
which crowds upon my choice too abundantly, to 
admit of that contracted form, in which I think it 
prudent to make an experiment of public taste, be- 
fore I venture upon a work of more labour and ex- 
tent. A review of Homer's scene of action leads 
naturally to the consideration of the times, when he 
lived ; and the nearer we approach his country and 
age, the more we find him accurate in his pictures of 
nature, and that every species of his extensive Imi- 
tation furnishes the greatest treasure of original truth 
to be found in any Poet, ancient or modern. 

Desirous, however, of giving some idea of what 
occurred to us, as travellers through those countries, 
where Homer had formed his conception of things, 
I submitted my thoughts upon this head some years 
ago to the judgment of a friend, a who, from his pe- 
culiar interest in the subject, his known respect for 
the public, and his approved tenderness for me, 
had a right to that compliment. 

The sketch, which I communicated to him in the 
form of a Letter, was so fortunate as to meet with 
his approbation. But while, in compliance with his 
wishes, I was preparing it for the press, I had the 
honour of being called to a station, which, for some 
years, fixed ray whole attention upon objects of so 
very different a nature, that it became necessary to 
lay Homer aside, and reserve the farther considera- 
tion of my subject for a time of more leisure. 

However, in the course of that active period, the 
duties of my situation engaged me in an occasional 

■ The late Mr. Dawkins. 



TO THE READER. 5 

attendance upon a nobleman, b who, while he pre- 
sided at his Majesty's councils, reserved some mo- 
ments for literary amusement. His Lordship was 
very partial to this subject ; and I seldom had the 
honour of receiving his commands on business, that 
he did not lead the conversation to Greece and Ho- 
mer. He desired to see the Letter here mentioned, 

b The late Earl of Granville. Being directed to wait upon his 
Lordship, a few days before he died, with the preliminary articles 
of the Treaty of Paris, I found him so languid, that I proposed 
postponing my business for another time : but he insisted that I 
should stay, saying, it could not prolong his life, to neglect his duty? 
and repeating the following passage, out of Sarpedon's speech, he 
dwelled with particular emphasis on the third line, which recalled 
to his mind the distinguishing part he had taken in public affairs. 

ft ITETTOV, El flEV yap 7ToX£/LtOV TTEpl TOV%E (j)VyOVT£Q t 

Aiei Srj fiEWoifXEV ayrjpio r adai/arto te 

EoaE<x$', OYTE KEN AYTOS ENI IIPftTOI2I MAXOIMHN, 

Ovte ke ae oreMoi/ii l^a-^rjv eq tcvdiavEtpav 
Nw £', Ejjnrrjg yap KrjpEg E^Etrraaiv Savaroio 
Mt/picu, ag ovk cert <f>vy£iv fipoTov, ov& i>7ra\v£cu, 
Iv/liev II. xii. 322. 

Could all our care elude the gloomy grave, 
Which claims no less the fearful than the brave, 
For lust of fame, I should not vainly dare 
In fighting fields, nor urge thy soul to war. 
But, since, alas! ignoble age must come, 
Disease, and death's inexorable doom ; 
The life, which others pay, let us bestow, 
And give to Fame, what we to Nature owe. 

Pope's Hom. II. xii. 387. 

His Lordship repeated the last word several times, with a calm 
and determinate resignation ; and after a serious pause of some mi- 
nutes, he desired to hear the Treaty read; to which he listened 
with great attention : and recovered spirits enough to declare the 
approbation of a dying Statesman (I use his own words) on the 
most glorious War, and most honourable Peace, this nation ever 
saw. 



6 TO THE READER. 

and was pleased to approve my method of treating 
his favourite Poet. He advised me to publish the 
substance of what I had written, changing the epis- 
tolary style and form into that of a more regular 
dissertation; and extending the work, from mate- 
rials of the same sort (of which I laid a specimen 
before him) into a more general Commentary upon 
Homer. 

I think, that I am justified in following only the 
first part of this advice : for I consider it not only 
respectful to him, for whom I write, but more pru- 
dent with regard to myself, to trust these extracts 
from my eastern observations to the Reader's indul- 
gence, in their present contracted state, before I ven- 
ture farther, even under the sanction of his Lord- 
ship's respectable opinion. If the manner in which 
this Essay is received, encourages me to proceed, I 
shall, with more confidence, extend and methodise 
the work, upon the plan his Lordship proposed ; if 
not, there is already too much of it. 

At present we shall confine our inquiry to Homer's 
Mimetic Powers ; for, whether we consider him as 
Geographer, Traveller, Historian, or Chronologer, 
whether his Religion and Mythology, his Manners 
and Customs, or his Language and Learning, are 
before us ; in these several views his Imitation alone 
is the great object of our attention. We shall admit 
his ancient title of Philosopher only as he is a 
Painter. Nor does it come within our plan to exa- 
mine his pictures, except so far, as their truth and 
originality are concerned. 

* See the distinction of the Essay at p. 16. 



TO THE READER. 7 

His sanguine admirers may perhaps allege, that 
of all poets he stands least in need of this sort of 
illustration ; that the accuracy of his description is 
too striking to want any comment : which, while 
it explains, also damps and extinguishes the true 
spirit and fire of his imagery ; and that his natural 
and unaffected manner carries with it those obvious 
marks of original invention, which discover (at first 
sight, or not at all) that the picture has been faith- 
fully taken from life. 

Admitting the justness of this encomium in its 
utmost extent, it will surely be allowed, that he 
enters most into the spirit of the Copy, who is best 
acquainted with the Original. If, therefore, we 
would do the Poet justice, we should approach, as 
near as possible, to the time and place, when and 
where, he wrote. This applies more properly to the 
Odyssey; for, as that poem is more descriptive of 
private and domestic life, so its beauties are more 
local, and its paintings are of that finished kind, 
which produces resemblance and character out of 
very trivial incidents ; and these delicate touches, 
though essentially concerned in making out the 
likeness, are so minute, as to escape observation, if 
the copy and original be not confronted. 

May not this, in some degree, account for that 
superiority, which the Iliad has assumed over the 
Odyssey for many ages ? a superiority, which, if I 
am not mistaken, must still gain ground, in propor- 
tion to our distance from, and ignorance of, the 
times which the Poet describes. For, supposing 
their merit equal, that Poem must longest survive, 



8 TO THE READER. 

which abounds most in the great tragic passions, 
and partakes least of the fluctuating manners of 
common life. It may, perhaps, be alleged on the 
other hand, that, in d an early competition between 

d Madame Dacier, in her Preface to the Odyssey, says, " II 
est constant, que le jugement de I'Antiquite sur ses deux Poemes 
est, que celui de l'lliade est d'autant plus beau que celui de 
l'Odyssee, que la valeur d'Achille est superieure a celle d'Ulysse ; 
c'est ce que Platon nous apprend dans le second Hippias, ou So- 
crate dit a Eudicus, qu'il avoit sou vent oui porter ce jugement a 
son pere Apemantus." I wish the Reader would turn to the pas- 
sage, on which this confident appeal to the judgment of antiquity 
is founded ; I am persuaded, he will see, that Madame Dacier 
has been mistaken in the single instance, which she produces of an 
ancient preference of the Iliad to the Odyssey ; and that this 
learned Lady has not sufficiently attended, either to the grave 
irony, which is the character of this dialogue, or to the sense of 
the particular passage to which she alludes. Socrates advances no 
opinion of his own here, nor does he seriously refer to the opinion 
of Apemantus ; but, for argument's sake, he slyly suggests a topic, 
which he knows will engage the sophist's vanity, and takes occasion 
thence to exhibit a humorous caricatura of the pedantic pre- 
sumption, bad taste, and absurd reasoning, of that set of men, 
Nor is the valour of Achilles under consideration in this ridiculous 
dispute. The word afieivuv, which, in its early signification, fre- 
quently alluded to mere strength and courage, might indeed 
have been equivocal, had not all ambiguity been removed, by a 
thorough explanation, in the subsequent part of the dialogue, 
where Socrates asks Hippias, which of the two, Achilles or 
Ulysses, he preferred ? and in what the one excels the other ? 
TroTEpov afjietru); kai vara n ; Hippias answers the first question by 
saying, that he thinks Achilles the best (apiaror) of the Grecians ; 
and second, by observing, that he excels as much in plainness and 
truth, as Ulysses does in duplicity and falsehood. The veracitv 
of the heroes of the Iliad and Odyssey being thus ludicrouslv laid 
down as the test of their merit (in which that of the two Poems is 
absurdly involved), Socrates proceeds to demonstrate, with much 
ironical sophistry, that Achilles has no claim of preference under 
this title. In short, if any conclusion at all could be drawn from 
a detached paragraph of this dialogue, with regard to the judgment 
of antiquity, upon the merit of those two Poems, it would be rather 



TO THE READER. 9 

the two poems, the judgment of antiquity was fa- 
vourable to the Iliad. But I believe, that, what- 
ever weight such a preference ought to have, it can 
be traced no higher than Longinus, whose partiality 
for this poem (which, however, is but slightly 
marked) seems founded, partly in his own genius, 
and, perhaps, a little in that of his age, when the 
modes of life differed so much from those of the 
heroic times. It is not extraordinary, that a critic 
of his fire and imagination, should prefer a pathetic 
drama to a moral story, and kindle at pictures of 
passions, which he had often felt, though indifferent 
to the representation of manners, he never saw. 
But I cannot help thinking, that the Odyssey, con- 
sidered in its interesting character, as a picture of 
ljfe, must have been most generally relished, by the 
age and country, to which it was addressed ; and 
that, if it has contributed less to the Author's fame 
in later times, it is because the peculiar precision, 
and closeness of its minute representation^ well in 
manners, as landscape, must find fewer modern 
judges, in proportion to our ignorance of the private 
characters, familiar occurrences, and domestic sce- 
nery, of the heroic ages : while the Iliad, addressing 

unfavourable to M. Dacier's opinion, and could only amount to this, 
that the dogmatical presumption of the Sophists (who had arro- 
gantly assumed a right of decision in every province of Literature) 
is exposed, on this occasion, by Plato, for preferring the Iliad to 
the Odyssey, upon principles of criticism, equally void of taste and 
reason. I must also observe, that Aristotle, Horace, and Quintilian, 
the great professed critics of antiquity, make no such distinction 
that I can find ; nor does Virgil (the best of all critics on Homer, 
and his most distinguishing admirer) discover any partiality of this 
kind. 



10 TO THE READER. 

itself more universally to the passions, in. animated 
pictures of human nature, appeals more forcibly to 
those feelings, which are common to every age and 
country. 

I must confess I am a little surprised, there should 
still be so large a field open for observation, of this 
kind; and, particularly, that those who have af- 
fected to discover so perfect a system of morals and 
/politics in Homer, should have bestowed so little 
consideration upon the character of the times for 
which this instruction was calculated. For, though 
the Poet's age, and that of his great critic, have 
never been properly distinguished by any author I 
have yet met with, I will venture to say, that they 
differed as much, with regard to their reigning vir- 
tues and vices, their state of police and degree of 
civilization, their modes and tastes, in short, the 
great business and leading pleasures of life, as we 
do in these respects, from our Gothic ancestors in 
the days of chivalry and romance. 

I believe the truth is, that Homer's deep political 
and ethic plan has been carried much farther than 
he intended : his great merit, as an instructor of 
mankind, seems to be that of having transmitted to 
us a faithful transcript, or (which is, perhaps, more 
useful) a correct abstract of human nature, impar- 
tially exhibited under the circumstances, which be- 
longed to his period of society, as far as his experi- 
ence and observation went. Nor should we think 
less respectfully of the important moral lessons 
which may be collected from the Iliad, and still 
more from the Odyssey: for elegant imitation has 



TO THE READER. 11 

strange powers of interesting us in certain views of 
nature. These we consider but transiently, till the 
Poet or Painter awake our attention, and send us 
back to life with a new curiosity, which we owe en- 
tirely to the copies which they lay before us. In a 
judicious collection of those pleasing and instruc- 
tive sketches of manners, where the artist is happy 
in his choice, the arrangement, and the truth of 
his characters, have this advantage over real life, 
that they are susceptible of a more deliberate exa- 
mination and close comparison, than the fleeting 
and dispersed originals will admit. 

Should the fate of the experiment, I am now 
making, convince me of a common error, of which 
I have too much reason to be apprehensive, viz. that 
of mistaking a fondness of my subject for a know- 
ledge of it, I again promise to stand corrected, and 
to spare at least the Public, if not myself, any far- 
ther trouble on this head ; hoping that my partiality 
to those romantic scenes of heroic action will meet * 
with some indulgence, especially from those, who 
can imagine, and therefore, I hope, excuse, that 
species of enthusiasm, which belongs to such a 
journey, performed in such society, where Homer 
being my guide, and Bouverie and Dawkins my 
fellow-travellers, the beauties of the first of poets 
were enjoyed in the company of the best of friends. 
However wild and unreasonable these feelings may 
appear to judgments of a more sober cast, I must 
still confess a return of their influence, whenever I 
indulge in a grateful review of those happy days, 
which we passed together, examining the Iliad on 



12 TO THE READER. 

the Scamandrian plain, and tracing Ulysses, Me- 
nelaus, and Telemachus, through the various scenes 
of their adventures, with the Odyssey in our hands. 
Had I been so fortunate as to have enjoyed their 
assistance, in arranging and preparing for the Pub- 
lic, the substance of our many friendly*conversa- 
tions on this subject, I should be less anxious 
about the fate of the following work. But whatever 
my success may be in an attempt to contribute to 
the amusement of a vacant hour, I am happy to 
think, that though I should fail to answer the ex- 
pectations of public curiosity, I am sure to satisfy 
the demands of private friendship; and that, acting 
as the only survivor and trustee for the literary con- 
cerns of my late fellow-travellers, I am, to the 
best of my judgment, carrying into execution the 
purpose of men, for whose memory I shall ever 
retain the greatest veneration. And though I may 
do justice to the honest feelings, which urge me to 
this pious task, by mixing an air of compliment in 
an act of duty, yet I must not disown a private, 
perhaps an idle consolation, which, if it be vanity 
to indulge, it would be ingratitude to suppress, viz. 
that as long as my imperfect descriptions shall pre- 
serve from oblivion the present state of the Troade, 
and the remains of Balbec and Palmyra, so long 
will it be known that DAWKINS and BOU- 
VERIE were my friends. 

ROBERT WOOD. 



AN 

ESSAY 

ON 

THE ORIGINAL GENIUS 



HOMER. 



ORDER AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE 
SUBJECT. 

Though the account we have given the reader of 
that particular object of our eastern tour, which 
furnished the subject of this Essay, may not have 
entirely reconciled him to our views; yet, I hope, 
the following fragment of ancient history will soften 
the imputation of singularity, or affectation, to which, 
I fear, our undertaking may, in some measure, be 
exposed: as it will, at least, shew, that we were not 
the first who thought of going to Troy to read 
Homer. 

When iEschines the orator was banished from 
Athens to Rhodes, by his victorious rival in elo- 
quence, we are told, that one of the amusements of 
his exile was an excursion to Troy, accompanied 
by his friend Cymon, in order to examine that cele- 
brated spot, with the Iliad in his hand. We also 
learn, that a very romantic piece of gallantry, in 
which his fellow-traveller rashly engaged on the 
banks of Scamander, in violation of the laws both 



14 ON THE ORIGINAL 

of decency and hospitality, interrupted the execu- 
tion of this scheme ; and perhaps by these means 
deprived us of a valuable piece of criticism on the 
geography of that poem. The reader, who wishes 
to see this tale prettily embellished, must look for it 
in Fontaine: in the mean time, I shall refer him to 
the annexed note a for this curious historv, and the 
authority upon which it is founded. 

His attempt, however unsuccessful, suggests this 
observation in our favour, viz. that about the most 
refined period of Greek letters, when Homer was 
best understood, and most relished, an Athenian 
of distinguished taste, who was his great admirer, 
had formed such expectations from reading the 
Iliad on the Scamandrian plain, that he undertook 
a voyage to Troy expressly with that view. 

Whatever the object of our plan was, the reader 
is only interested in the fruits which it may have 
produced ; and of this he will be best enabled to 

a Without vouching for the authenticity of those letters of 
iEschines, in which this story is contained, I shall take from them 
the following abstract of it. It was an annual custom at Troy, 
that the girls, who were to be married that year, on a certain day, 
bathe in the Scamander, and consecrate their virginity to the god 
of that river. &schines and Cymon were admitted, as strangers, 
to see this ceremony, at a proper distance. When Callirhoe, a 
beautiful young lady of a good family, went into the river, and 
pronounced the words used on that occasion, viz. " Scamander, 
take my virgin flower;" Cymon, who had concealed himself among 
the bushes, dressed like a river god, stepped forth, and answered, 
u The god Scamander accepts your present, and prefers you to all 
your companions," and retired with her. A few days after, when 
the new-married couples assisted at the festival of Venus, the tra- 
vellers also attended upon that occasion ; and Callirhoe discovering 
Cymon, innocently pointed him out to her friend as the god Sca- 
mander, to whom she had consecrated her virginity. The affair 
was by these means discovered, and iEschines and his friend were 
obliged to make their escape. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 15 

form his own judgment, by comparing our survey 
of the Troade, with the account which he finds of 
it in the Iliad. If, at the same time, he will take 
the pains of extracting from that poem a mere 
journal of the siege of Troy, stripped of all poetical 
embellishments, he will find, that, notwithstanding 
the great share, which fancy has had in the compo- 
sition, it contains in general a consistent narrative of 
military events, connected, and supported, by that 
due coincidence of the circumstances of time, and 
place, which history requires. 

But as his accuracy is by no means confined to 
the principal scene of his action, I beg leave, before 
we come to the examination of our map of Troy, 
to take a view of that exactness, which runs through 
his descriptions of every kind. If, upon the whole, 
the observations which I shall offer on this head 
have any weight, I think they will support this con- 
clusion ; viz. That however questionable Homer's 
superiority may be, in some respects, as a perfect 
model for composition, in the great province of 
imitation he is the most original of all poets, and 
the most constant and faithful copier after nature. 

I was the more confirmed in this judgment, the 
more I referred myself back to the state of society 
and manners of that early period. I therefore ex- 
amined the materials of the Iliad and Odyssey, not 
only where they were collected, but, as nearly as 
possible, in the same order, in the same light, and 
under the same point of view, in which I imagine 
they presented themselves to the Poet's choice- 
making it the chief object of my inquiry to investi- 
gate the several circumstances, and various relations 
of this kind, which may be supposed to have influ- 
enced his conception of things. 

Though, from what has been already said, the 



16 ON THE ORIGINAL 

reader will not expect strict method in this speci- 
men; yet, for the sake of perspicuity, it may not be 
amiss to lay before him the general order, which I 
propose to observe in treating my subject. 

I shall begin by offering a few conjectures with 
regard to Homer's Country. In the next place I 
shall take into consideration his Travels. These 
I shall chiefly deduce from his Navigation and 
Geography ; the first will lead to some observa- 
tions on his Winds, as the second will introduce a 
review of that part of Mr. Pope's Translation, 
which relates to this matter : and each of these 
articles will give me an opportunity of vindicating 
Homer from some unmerited imputations of inac- 
curacy. I shall also enter into an examination of 
his Religion, Mythology, Manners, and Cus- 
toms ; and, having considered him as an Histo- 
rian and Chronologer, shall take a view of his 
Language and Learning: and shall conclude 
with his pretensions as a Philosopher; confining 
myself however, in what I shall offer under these 
different heads, to what is connected with my sub- 
ject, and may serve to throw light upon his Ori- 
ginal Genius. 



HOMER'S COUNTRY. 

The opinion of the ancients in respect to that old 
subject of controversy, the place of Homer's birth 
and education, though it coincides, in a great mea- 
sure, with my judgment on that head, is not so much 
the object of this inquiry, as it is to learn, if possi- 
ble, from the Poet himself, where his fancy began to 
open to the wide field of matter, which he so hap- 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 17 

pily collected and arranged in that wonderful epic 
form, that still continues to hold the first rank 
among compositions of genius. What occurs to me, 
in favour of the most received opinion, that he was 
an Asiatic, probably an Ionian or iEolian," and per- 
haps of Chios or Smyrna, is as follows. 

If we survey his map of the world with attention, 
I think we may discover, that his first impressions 
of the external face of Nature were made in a coun- 
try east of Greece, at least as far as we may be 
allowed to form a judgment from his describing- 
some places under a perspective, to which such a 
point of view is necessary : as for example, when 
he places the Locrians beyond Eubcea. This piece 
of geography, though very intelligible at Smyrna or 
Chios, would appear strange at Athens or Argos. 

His description of the situation of the Echinades, 
beyond sea, opposite to Elis, c has something equi- 
vocal in it, which is cleared up, if we suppose it 
addressed to the inhabitants of the Asiatic side of 
the Archipelago. But if, with Mr. Pope, d we un- 
derstand the words beyond sea to relate to Elis, I 
think we adopt an unnatural construction to come at 
a forced meaning; for the old Greek historians tell 
us, that those islands are so close upon the coast of 

b When we consider in how narrow a compass those contiguous 
countries lie, I believe we shall think it a little too nice to deter- 
mine that Homer belonged to the latter upon the authority of his 
language, and some customs which appear ^olian. 

c Ueprjv aXoc, HXicioe avra. II. ii. 620. 

d " And those who view fair Elis o'er the seas 

From the blest islands of th' Echinades." II. ii. 759. 
Madame Dacier has adopted the construction for which I contend, 
without the least idea of applying it to the purpose for which I 
quote the passage. Her words are, " Ceux de Dulichium et des 
autres Echinades, de ces Isles sacrees qui sont a l'extremiK 1 de la, 
mervisa visde la cote d'Elide." 



18 ON THE ORIGINAL 

Elis, that in their time many of them had been 
joined to it by means of the Achelons, which still 
continues to connect them with the continent, by 
the rubbish, which that river deposits at its month, 
as I have had an opportunity of observing. 

I think I can discover another instance of this 
kind in the fifteenth book of the Odyssey, where 
Eumaeus, the faithful servant of Ulysses, is de- 
scribed, entertaining his disguised master with a 
recital of the adventures of his youth. He opens 
his story with a description of the island of Syros, 
his native land, and places it beyond or above 
Ortygia. Now, if we consider that Ithaca was the 
scene of this conference between Ulysses and Eu- 
maeus, it will appear, that the situation of Syros is 
very inaccurately laid down ; for, in reality, this 
island, so far from being placed beyond, or farther 
from, Ithaca than Ortygia is, should have been de- 
scribed as nearer to it. An ingenious friend thinks 
that KaOvTTtpQev may relate to the latitude ; and that 
Homer meant to describe Syros, as north of Orty- 
gia : but I cannot help thinking that the application 
of high to northern latitudes is much later than 
Homer. 

As therefore the same description would have 
been perfectly agreeable to truth, had it been made 
in Ionia, is it not reasonable to suppose, that the 
poet received his early impressions of the situation 
of Syros in that part of the world, and had upon 
this occasion forgotten to adapt his ideas to the 
spot, to which the scene is shifted ? 

If my conjecture is thus far admitted, I beg leave 
to proceed to a farther use of it, in attempting to 
throw some light on this obscure expression, o0, 
rpoTrai »?£Xtoio. It is important to that part of the 
Poet's character now under consideration, to have 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 19 

his sense of these words restored, if possible; for 
they have been urged as an argument of his gross 
ignorance of geography, by those, who think they 
relate to the latitude of Syros, and that this descrip- 
tion places that island under the tropic. 

Without entering into that labyrinth e of learning, 

e Mr. Pope and Madame Dacier's notes will point out to those, 
who have farther curiosity on this head, some of the different ex- 
planations which have added perplexity to this passage. 

" There curious eyes inscribed with wonder trace 

The sun's diurnal, and his annual race."— Od. xv. 440. 

" The words in Homer (says Mr. Pope) are rpo-rrai ijeXioio, or solis 
conversiones. M. Perrault insults the Poet as ignorant of geo- 
graphy, for placing Syros under the tropic; an error (says he) 
which commentators in vain have laboured to defend, by having 
recourse to a sun-dial of Pherecydes on which the motions of the 
sun (the rpoirat fjeXioto) were designed. The last defence would 
indeed be ridiculous, since Pherecydes flourished three hundred 
years after the time of Homer. No one (replies Monsieur Boileau) 
was ever at any difficulty about the sense of this passage ; Eusta- 
thius proves that rpe-Kzabai signifies the same as <t>vvetv, and denotes 
the setting of the sun ; so that the words mean, that Syros is situ- 
ate above Ortygia, on that side where the sun sets, or westerly, 
Trpog to. Zvtikvl fj.ept] Ttjg OpTvyictQ. It is true, Eustathius mentions 
a bower, I^Xato^, in which the conversions of the sun were 
figured. This indeed would fully vindicate Homer ; but Bochart 
and others affirm, that Eustathius is in an error ; and that Syros is 
so far from lying to the west, or irpoq rpoirac yeXwio, that it bears 
an eastern position both with respect to Ithaca and Delos : How is 
this objection to be answered ? Bochart, p. 411. of his Geographia 
sacra, explains it by having recourse to the bower mentioned by 
Eustathius, in which the motions of the sun were drawn. Phere- 
cydes (says Hesychius Milesius) having collected the writings of 
the Phoenicians, from the use of them alone, without any instruc- 
tor, became famous in the world by the strength of his own genius : 
and Laertius writes, that an Heliotrope made by him was pre- 
served in the island of Syros. Thus it is evident, that he borrowed 
his knowledge from the Phoenicians, and probably his skill in astro- 
nomy ; they being very expert in that science, by reason of its 
use in their navigation. Why then might there not be a machine 
which exhibited the motion of the sun, made by the Phoenicians,, 

B 2 



20 ON THE ORIGINAL 

with which the critics on both sides have so much 
embarrassed this passage, that it is hard to say, 

and why might not Homer be acquainted with it? It is probable 
thatPherecydes took his pattern from this Heliotrope, which, being 
one of the greatest rarities of antiquity, might give a great repu- 
tation to Syros, and consequently was worthy to be celebrated by 
Homer, the great preserver of antiquities. Fallitur igitur (says 
Bochart) Eustathius, cum vult intelligi, quasi sita sit Syrus ad 
occiduas partes Deli ; cum contra Deli ad ortum sit Syrus, non 
ad occasum ; et rem sic se habere ex ipso Homer o patet, apud quern 
Eumceus in Ithaca, Syriam asserit esse trans Delum, quo nihil dici 
potuit falsius, si Syrus sit ad occasum Deli. If this answer ap- 
pears to any person too studied and abstruse, the difficulty may 
be solved, by supposing Euinaeus speaking of Delos as it lay with 
respect to Syros, before he was carried from it; for instance, if 
Syros lies on the east of Delos to a man in Ithaca, both Ithaca and 
Delos will lie on the west of Syros to one of that island. I would 
therefore imagine that Eumaeus speaks as a native of Syros and 
not as a sojourner in Ithaca, and then Delos will lie towards the 
sun-setting, or irpog i)\iov rpoTrac. But this last I only propose as 
a conjecture, not presuming to offer it as a decision." So far Mr. 
Pope. — Madame Dacier observes as follows : 

" Voici u n passage tres-important. M. Despreaux, dans ses 
Reflexions sur Longin, a fort bien refute la ridicule Critique que 
l'Auteur du Parallele, homme qui etoit tres iguoraut en Grec, en 
Latin, et sur-tout en Geographic, avoit faite contre Homere, c'est- 
a-dire, contre le pere de la Geographie, en l'accusant d'etre tombe 
dans la plus enorme bevue qu'un Poete ait jamais faite : C'est, 
dit-il, d'avoir mis VIsle de Syros et la Isler Mediterrante sous le 
Tropique ; btvue^ ajoute-t-il, que les Interprttes d Homere ont tdcht 
en vain de sauver, en expliquant ce passage du Cadran que le Phi- 
losophe Pherecyde, qui vivoit trois cens ans apres Homere, avoit fait 
dans cette Isle. II n'y a rien-la, qui ne marque lignorance gros- 
siere de cet Auteur; car il est 6galement faux et qu'Homere ait 
place lisle de Syros sous le Tropique, et qu'on ait jamais voulu 
justifier ce Poete, en expliquant ce passage du Cadran de Phere- 
cyde,qui ne fut fait que trois cens ans apres. Mais je suis fachee 
que M. Despreaux, qui refute cette malheureuse Critique avec tant 
de raison et de solidite, ne soit pas mieux entre lui meme dans le 
veritable sens de ce passage, et qu'il se soit laisse tromper par une 
noted'Eustathe, qui lui a persuade que ces mots 6di-po-ai IjeXioio, 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 21 



whether Homer has suffered most by his ignorant 
enemies, or his officious friends ; I beg to carry the 



veulent dire que lisle de Syros est au couchant de Delos ; car 
c'est ainsi qu'Eustathe Pa d'abord explique, Keifxevrj irpog rpo-rrag 
r/XioVj rjTot TTpog ra cvtikcl jj.epr) ttjq Oprvyiag, &c. C'est-a-dire, que 
Syros est situee au Couchant du Soleil, au Couchant de l'Isle 
d'Ortygie; car rpETrecrSai, se tourner, se dit du Soleil pour Svveiv, 
se coucher. M. Despreaux devoit voir que cette explication est 
insoutenable, car il est absolument faux que l'Isle de Syros soit au 
Couchant de Delos. Aucun Geographe ne Pa jamais dit. Et 
comment Homere auroit-il pu le dire dans le meme vers ou il a 
dit OpTvyiag KaQvxepQev, au dcssus de l'Isle d'Ortygie ; ce qui est 
au dessus ou au-de-la, de cette Isle par rapport a Eum6e qui est 
a Ithaque, ne peut jamais etre au Couchant. Voici comme eu 
parle le savant Bochart dans sa Chanaan, Liv. I. chap. xiv. Ens- 
tathe se trompe quand il veut que par ijXtov rponag, on entende le 
Couchant, comme si VIsle de Syros ttoit au Couchant de Delos, 
car au contraire elle est au Levant et non au Couchant de cette 
Isle. C'est la situation que lui donnent les Geographes, et il ne 
faut que ce vers d' Homere pour prouver que c'est sa veritable posi- 
tion, puisqu' Eumte, qui est a Ithaque, assure que Syros est au 
dessus, au de Id d'Ortygie, ce qui seroit trts-faux si elle ttoit au 
Couchant de Delos ; Eumee auroit plutot du dire en deed. II falloit 
done s'en tenir a la seconde explication qu'Eustathe a .ajoutee 
dans sa meme Remarque: D'autres, dit-il, expliquent ce passage en 
disant que dans VIsle de Syros il y avoit un autre qui marquoit les 
conversions du Soleil, c'est a-dire les Solstices, et quon appelloit 
V autre du Soleil par cette raison. Et voild ce qu' Homere entend 
par ces mots, oil sont les conversions du Soleil. Voila la seule ve- 
ritable explication ; elle merite d'etre eclaircie. Nous voyons 
par ce passage meme que les Pheniciens avoient fait un long sejour 
dans l'Isle de Syros ; il est certain que le nom meme de Syros 
vient des Pheniciens, comme nous le verrons plus bas, et nous 
savons d'ailleurs que les Pheniciens etoient tres-savans en astrono- 
mie, c'est de-la qu'il faut tirer l'explication de rpoirai fjeXioio et il 
est aise de voir que c'est ifkioTponiov, l'heliotrope, e'est-a-dire le 
Cadran, et par-la Homere nous apprend que les Pheniciens avoient 
fait dans cette Isle un Cadran dont le style ou l'aiguille, par le 
moyen de son ombre, marquoit les solstices. Et comme e'etoit 
une chose fort rare et fort merveilleuse dans ces temps-la, Homere, 
fort curieux et fort instruit de tous ces points d'Antiquite, la 



22 ON THE ORIGINAL 

reader, for a moment, to the Asiatic side of the 
Archipelago, in order to examine, whether a view 
of things under that perspective, offers any appear- 
ances, to which those words can be naturally ap- 
plied, without violence to their literal meaning. 

No part of our tour afforded more entertainment, 
than the classical sea prospects from this coast, and 
the neighbouring islands ; where the eye is naturally 
carried westward by the most beautiful terminations 
imaginable; especially when they are illuminated 
by the setting sun, which shews objects so dis- 
tinctly in the clear atmosphere, that from the top of 
Ida I could very plainly trace the outline of Athos 
on the other side of the iEgean sea, when the sun 
set behind that mountain. This rich scenery prin- 
cipally engaged the Poet's attention : and if we con- 
sider him as a painter, we shall generally find his 



marque comme une rarete qui distinguoit cette isle. Bientot apres 
Ies Cadrans fureut plus comrauns. Environ six vingts ans apres 
Homere, l'Ecriture sainte fait mention, 4 Rois. xx. 2. d'un Cadran 
qui 6toit a Jerusalem, et qu'on appelloit le Cadran d'Achas, sur 
lequel Dieu fit, en faveur de ce Prince, que Tombre retrograda de 
dix degrez. Ce Cadran rnarquoit les heures, et non les solstices. 
II y avoit done des Cadrans avant celui de Pherecyde, qui ne fit 
le sien a Syros que deux cens ans apres celui d'Achas, et trois 
cens ans apres celui des Phenicieus, et par consequent, pour ex- 
pliquer ce passage d'Homere, on n'a eu recours qu'a ce Cadran 
des Pheniciens, et nullement a celui de Pherecyde, qu'Homere n'a 
jamais connu. II me semble que cela est- prouve. Mais il y a 
plus encore, e'est qu'il y a biende lapparence que ce Cadran, que 
Pherecyde fit a Syros trois cens ans apres Homere, ne fut fait que 
sur les decouvertes des Pheniciens; car Hesychius de Mil t, dans 
le livre qu'il a fait de ceux qui ont ete celebres par leur erudition, 
nous assure que Pherecyde, qui etoit de Syros meme, n'eut point 
de maitre, et qu'il se rendit habile en etudiant quelques litres se- 
cretes des Pheniciens qu'il avoit recouvrez. Je me flate que ce pas- 
sage d'Homere est assez eclairci, et e'est par le secours que M. 
Dacier m'a donne." 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 23 

face turned this way. In the infancy, and even 
before the birth of astronomy, the distinct variety 
of this broken horizon would naturally suggest the 
idea of a sort of ecliptic to the inhabitants of the 
Asiatic coast and islands, marking the annual 
northern, and southern progress of the sun. Let us 
suppose the Ionians looking south-west from the 
heights of Chios at the winter solstice, they would 
see the sun set behind Tenos, and towards Syros, 
the next island in the same south-west direction : 
and having observed, that when he advanced thus far, 
he turned back, they would fix the turnings (r|0O7rai) 
of the sun to this point. I submit it, as matter of 
conjecture, whether this explanation does not offer 
a more natural interpretation of the passage than 
any, which has yet been suggested. 

In pursuance of the same method of illustrating 
Homer's Writings and his Country from each other, 
I shall draw some conjectures with regard to the 
place of his birth, or at least of his education^ from 
his similes. Here we may expect the most satisfac- 
tory evidence, that an inquiry of this obscure nature 
will admit. It is from these natural and unguarded 
appeals of original genius, to the obvious and fami- 
liar occurrences of common life, that we may not 
only frequently collect the custom, manners, and 
arts, of remote antiquity ; but sometimes disco- 
ver the condition, and, I think, in the following in- 
stances, the country of the Poet. 

I shall begin with that beautiful comparison f of 

f 'fie & avefxot ()vo ttovtov opiverov i)(dvo£vra t 
BOPEHI KAI ZEWP02, Til TE 0PHKH0EN AHTON, 
E\0ovr' B^aTcivqQ* afivZiQ he te KVfxa KeXaivov 
Kopdverai, ttoWov Se irapei, ct\a (}>vkoq eyevav' 
'fie (.ZolI^eto OvfioQ evt erTtjdeaariv Kyanov, — II. ix. 4. 
As from its cloudy dungeon issuing forth 
A double tempest of the west and north . 



24 ON THE ORIGINAL 

the wavering and irresolute perplexity of the Greeks, 
to an agitated sea ; and take this passage into con- 
sideration the more willingly, as it has given occa- 
sion to some severe strictures on the Poet's geo- 
graphy. 

Here we not only find a happy allusion, but, if I 
am not mistaken, a beautiful sea piece : and in order 
to do justice to its perspective, we should place our- 
selves on the spot, or in the point of view, where the 
Painter made his drawing; which will only answer 
to some part of the Asiatic coast, or its islands. 

It would be a false and affected refinement to sup- 
pose, that the simile acquires any additional beauty 
by the discovery of a real landscape in those lines. 
The Poet's purpose, which was to paint the struggle 
of wavering indecision in the people, distracted be- 
tween a sense of honour and of danger, and alter- 
nately resolving to fly or to stay, is, no doubt, com- 
pletely satisfied in the general image, which he 
makes use of. But though his meaning went no 
farther, I am not less of opinion, that, upon this oc- 
casion, his imagination suggested to him a storm, 
which he had seen : and having myself had more 
than once an opportunity of observiug from the 
coast of Ionia the truth of this picture in every cir- 
cumstance^ I cannot help giving it as an instance of 
the Poet's constant original manner of composition, 
which faithfully (though perhaps in this case inad- 
vertently) recalls the images, that a particular strik- 
ing appearance of Nature had strongly impressed 
upon his youthful fancy, retaining the same local as- 



Swells o'er the sea, from Thracian's frozen shore, 
Heaps waves on waves, and bids the iEgean roar; 
This way and that, the boiling deeps are tost ; 
Such various passions urg'd the troubled host. — Pope. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 25 

sociations, which accompanied his first warm con- 
ception of them. 

But lest my testimony, as an eye-witness of the 
exact correspondence of this copy to the original, 
from which I suppose it taken, should not be satis- 
factory; I would propose a test of this matter, upon 
which every reader will be enabled to form his own 
judgment. Suppose a painter to undertake this 
subject from Homer, he will find each object, not 
only clearly expressed, though within the compass 
of four hexameters ; but its particular place on the 
canvas distinctly marked ; and the disposition, as 
well as perspective, of the whole ascertained, with 
a precision of outline, from which it is impossible to 
depart. The Thracian mountains must form the 
back ground, thence the tempest is to burst on the 
iEgean sea, which has its proper stormy colouring; 
while the Ionian shore covered with sea-wreck, by 
a succession of waves breaking on its beach, will 
make the fore-ground, where the Poet views, ad- 
mires, and describes the whole. 

A curious and attentive observer of Nature is per- 
haps most liable to retain those marks of locality, 
which it has been my object to trace in the Poet. An 
elegant conception of external forms cannot easily 
divest itself of the precise order and arrangement of 
objects, with which it has at any time connected the 
idea of beauty; and this may account for that Io- 
nian point of view, to which Homer's scenery is so 
much adapted, sometimes even in violation of those 
rules, which critics have since laid down in regard 
to unity of place. 

We shall find this negligence more excusable, if 
we credit that probable tradition of the wandering 
Bard's chanting his compositions to his countrymen, 
in the manner practised at this day in the East: a 



26 ON THE ORIGINAL 

tradition which is favoured by the dramatic cast of 
the Iliad and Odyssey. I have often admired the 
spirited theatrical action of Italian and Eastern 
poets, when they recite in the open air, pointing out 
each object of description in an imaginary scenery 
of their own extemporaneous creation, but availing 
themselves at the same time of every real appear- 
ance of Nature within view of their audience, that 
is applicable to their subject, and connects it, in 
some degree, with the spot, where the recital is 
made. 

After what has been said on this passage, I should 
think it needless to mention the censure Erato- 
sthenes passed upon it, had it not been so frequently 
produced to the Poet's disadvantage, and urged as 
a proof of his ignorance in geography. The error 
laid to his charge is, that of making the west wind 
blow from Thrace. I rest his defence against this 
accusation upon the obvious answer of Strabo to so 
strange a piece of criticism ; which is, in substance, 
that Eratosthenes mistakes the Poet, when he con- 
cludes from this passage, that he asserts, as a ge- 
neral proposition, that the west wind blows from 
Thrace ; the wind here mentioned blows from the 
Thracian mountains upon the iEgean sea, and must 
of course be a west wind in respect to Ionia. 

For though this may not be exactly true, if we 
are to talk with the precision of a modern seaman ; 
yet we should remember, that in Homer's time there 
were but four points to the compass. I must ob- 
serve, that there are but two passages in the Iliad, 
where winds are described as blowing from the 
Thracian mountains across the iEgean upon the 
Asiatic coast ; and in both cases Boreas and Ze- 
phyrus are employed together. 

But to proceed to other instances of the same 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 27 

kind : when the formidable march of Ajax with his 
corps is compared to a threatening storm coming 
from the sea, I must observe (as an illustration, not 
of the obvious beauties of the simile, but of the Poet's 
country) that this can be no other than an Ionian, 
or, at least, an Asiatic storm ; for it is raised by a 
west wind, which, in those seas, can blow on that 
coast alone. 

When again, the irresistible rage of Hector is 
compared to the violence of Zephyrus buffeting the 
waves, we are not immediately reconciled to this 
wind's appearance in that rough character, so little 
known to western climates, and so unlike the 
playful Zephyr of modern poetry. But, before we 
condemn Homer as negligent of Nature, we should 
see, whether he is not uniform in this representation, 
and whether this is not the true Ionian character of 
Zephyrus. 

The very next simile of the same book is as much 
to our purpose, where the numbers, tumult, and 
eagerness of the Grecian army collecting to engage, 
are compared to a growing storm, which begins at 
sea, and proceeds to vent its rage upon the shore. 
The west wind is again employed in this Ionian pic- 
ture ; and we shall be less surprised to see the same 
allusion so soon repeated, when we find, that of all 
the appearances of Nature, of a kind so generally 
subject to variation, there is none so constant upon 
this coast. For at Smyrna the west wind blows into 
the gulf for several hours, almost every day during 
the summer season, generally beginning, in a gentle 
breeze, before twelve o'clock, but freshening consi- 
derably towards the heat of the day, and dying away 
in the evening. During a stay of some days in this 
city, at three different times, I had an opportunity 
of observing the various degrees of this progress. 



28 ON THE ORIGINAL 

from the first dark curl on the surface of the water, 
to its greatest agitation, which was sometimes vio- 
lent. Though these appearances admit of variation, 
both as to the degree of strength, and the precise 
time of their commencement, yet they seldom fail en- 
tirely. This wind, upon which the health and plea- 
sure of the inhabitants so much depend, is, by them, 
called the Inbat. The Frank merchants have long 
galleries running from their houses, supported by 
pillars, and terminating in a chiosque, or open sum- 
mer-house, to catch this cooling breeze, which, when 
moderate^ adds greatly to the Oriental luxury of 
their coffee and pipe. 

We have seen how happily the poet has made use 
of the growing violence of this wind, when he paints 
the increasing tumult and agitation of troops rush- 
ing to battle ; but, in a still silent picture, the allu- 
sion is confined to the first dubious symptoms of its 
approach, which are perceived rather by the colour, 
than by any sound or motion of the water, as in the 
following instance : 

When Hector challenges the most valiant of the 
Greeks to a single combat, both armies are ordered 
to sit down to hear his proposal. The plain, thus 
extensively covered with shields, helmets, and spears, 
is, in the moment of this solemn pause, compared to 
the sea, when a rising western breeze has spread a 
dark shade over its surface. 

When the reader has compared the similes, I have 
pointed out, with the original materials, which I 
have also laid before him 5 I shall submit to his con- 
sideration, as a matter of doubtful conjecture, whe- 
ther the Poet, thoroughly familiarized to those Ionian 
features, may not have inadvertently introduced 
some of them in the following picture, to which they 
do not so properly belong. When Eidothea, the 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 29 

daughter of Proteus, informs Menelaus at Pharos of 
the time, when her father is to emerge from the sea ; 
the circumstance of Zephyrus, introduced in a de- 
scription of noon, darkening the surface of the water, 
is so perfectly Ionian, and so merely accidental to 
the coast of Egypt, that I cannot help suspecting the 
Poet to have brought this image from home. 

It would add no small weight to this reasoning, 
could I find Virgil on my side of the question. His 
judgment with regard to the Greek Poet deserves 
more attention, than the highest critical authority 
we can appeal to on this subject ; and if we examine 
the imitations he has left us of some of the last pas- 
sages to which I have referred ; we shall see, that in 
each instance, he has omitted the original Ionian 
circumstance of Zephyrus. 

In claiming the sanction of so respectable an opi- 
nion, I do not conclude from this omission (what is 
immaterial to my purpose) that Virgil saw these 
pictures were Ionian : it is enough that he saw they 
were not Italian .; as every reader must, who consi- 
ders that Zephyrus is not the stormy wind of that 
country, and that it does not blow directly on any 
part of the Italian coast. 

In short, though Virgil copied Homer, perhaps, ■ 
more than is generally imagined, at least more than 
I have seen pointed out; yet, in the instances before 
us, he copied him no farther, than he found Homer [ 
and Nature to,agree ; and if he rejected the circum- 
stance, which I call local, and retained only the ge- 
neral beauties of his great master, in so doing, he 
very properly accommodated himself to the natural 
history of his own country. Thus the compliment 
of the Italian to the Ionian poet is such, as we might 
expect from the superior judgment of the one to the 
superior invention of the other. 



30 ON THE ORIGINAL 

There is a passage in the Odyssey, where Ze- 
phyrus appears as a freezing, and Eurus as a 
thawing wind. One would think it impossible for a 
Roman poet to introduce these winds in this man- 
ner, as it is so contrary to their established charac- 
ter in Italy. Yet I am much mistaken if Ovid had 
not these lines in view, and imitated them, without 
departing from the ideas of his own climate. Of this 
the reader will judge, by comparing them together. 

The old fable of a cave in the mountains of 
Thrace, which was the habitation of the winds, was 
most probably taken from Homer. But succeed- 
ing poets, the inhabitants of more western climates, 
have dropped the particularities of this piece of 
mythology, which seem to mark it the peculiar 
growth of Ionia, or that neighbourhood; and are 
satisfied with the general idea of all the winds 
dwelling, indiscriminately, in those lofty mountains. 
Whereas Boreas and Zephyrus are the only winds 
he describes as the settled inhabitants of this coun- 
try; and when, upon one occasion, he assembles 
them all here, it is at an entertainment in the house 
of Zephyrus, who appears to be at home, whilst the 
rest of the company are guests and visitants. 

I think, nothing leads us more directly towards 
the Poet's home, than his general manner of treating 
countries, in proportion to their remoteness from 
Ionia, in the style of a traveller, and with that reve- 
rence and curiosity, which distance is apt to raise; 
while this spot, and (which is more remarkable) 
even the grand scene of action of the Iliad, in its 
neighbourhood, seem to have been too familiar and 
indifferent for description, and are introduced, not 
upon their own account, but from their inseparable 
connexion with facts. And yet it is very observ- 
able, that, whenever they appear, it is always under 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 31 

that exact and just representation, which shews 
a perfect knowledge of the ground. 

Should it be objected, that, notwithstanding the 
distance of Egypt and Phoenicia from Ionia, we do 
not find the speciosa miracula of the Poet in those 
countries, nor are they chosen for scenes of the mar- 
vellous; it may be answered, that they were too 
much distinguished, the one by Arts, Commerce, 
and Navigation, and the other by fertility, popula- 
tion, and science, to have admitted any representa- 
tions, not coinciding, in some measure, with these 
notorious circumstances. While the unfrequented 
southern coast of Italy, with the island of Sicily, 
and the kingdoms of Alcinous and Ulysses, though 
not more distant, were less known, and of course 
gave a freer scope to the Poet's fancy. 

The major I longinquo reverentia is an observation 
too well founded in Nature to have escaped Homer. 
And though I may be accused of refinement, should 
I carry my conjectures on this head so far as to 
suspect, that it influenced him in choosing the hero 
of one of his poems from a country very remote 
from his own ; yet I must observe, that, whether it 
was a matter of accident or choice, of all the 
Grecian princes, who went to Troy, Ulysses was 
the most distant; it certainly was a circumstance, 
which accommodated the Odyssey particularly to 
an Ionian meridian. 

Were I to be guided by the faint lights which 
history has thrown upon this subject, I should say, 
that Homer was of Chios or Smyrna; and were I, 
upon the same information, to take a part in that 
competition, which has subsisted above two thou- 
sand years between these places, I should declare 
for the first: though, when I collect my evidence 
merely from the Iliad and Odyssey, I see nothing 



32 ON THE ORIGINAL 

that can be seriously urged on either side of that 
question. To say the truth, whatever has been 
offered, as mere conjecture, to shew that the Poet 
was an Asiatic, cannot, without refinement, be al- 
leged as a reason to determine whether he was an 
Ionian or an ^olian, and still less to decide bet* 
Chios or Smyrna: if, therefore, I am at all prq 
sessed in favour of either place, I am ready to g 
it up for any other part of the Asiatic coast, from 
Rhodes to Tenedos, which future travellers may. 
upon more careful examination, find most worthy 
of that honour.* 



HOMERS TRAVELS: 

AND, FIRST, HIS NAVIGATION 

Having taken a short view of the Poet it hoi 
if, according to our proposed order, we follow him 
abroad; I think, we shall find him a traveller of 
curiosity and observation. 

If our conjectures with regard to his country 
well founded, he lived in an island, or upon the s< a- 
coast. The Asiatic Greeks did not spread iota the 
inland parts of that continent, but confined them- 
selves to the shore, looking towards their mother- 
country with an attachment and respect link do wn 
to later ages. 

When the great objects of human pursuit, whether 
wealth, power, honours, or science, were do! lo be 
acquired at home, it is not reasonable to supp 
that a turn of mind like Homer's, should sit d< 

* See Homer's Mythology, page 33.36, for farther illustration 
of his country. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 33 

contented with the poverty, ignorance, and inglo- 
rious insignificance of his native spot. For though 
ambition or avarice might not, yet curiosity, which 
we cannot doubt his possessing in a great degree, 
would naturally draw him forth into the active 
scene. An impatient thirst after knowledge was in 
those days only to be satisfied by travelling. The 
tranquillity and security essentially necessary to 
studious retirement were unknown to that state, 
either of letters or government, at least in Greece. 
Homer therefore had only the great book of nature 
to peruse, and was original from necessity, as well 
as by genius. 

Few countries of the same extent have so much 
sea-coast as Greece. The intercourse of its inha- 
bitants with other countries, or with one another, 
was mostly kept up by water. There is no land- 
journey regularly described, either in the Iliad or 
Odyssey, except that short one of Teh uiachus from 
Pylos to Sparta; and even there Nestor submits to 
the choice of his guest the alternative of going by 
sea, though much the longest way. 

In this state of things, and considering how much 
the various occupations of high and low life were 
then confined to one rank and order of men, it is 
not extraordinary, that we should find the Poet so 
conversant in the language and manners of the sea, 
and so knowing, as welj in the business of the ship- 
wright as of the sailor'. Indeed, it is only by follow- 
ing him through each of those arts, that history is 
furnished with the earliest account of them. Let 
us therefore first examine his method of building, 
and next his manner of navigating a ship. 

If we compare the naval force of the different 
states of Greece at the time of the Trojan war with 
that of the same countries afterward, when iEgina, 

c 



34 ON THE ORIGINAL ■ 

Corinth, and Athens, had turned their thoughts to 
trade and navigation ; we shall find, that their pro, 
cress as maritime powers did not correspond with 
die account of their shipping, as it is accurately 
stated in Homer. It is natural to suppose that Co- 
rinth, from its advantageous situation, should be 
among the first cities on the continent of Greece, 
after that country began to have a settled govern- 
ment, which would enrich itself by commerce ; and 
it was undoubtedly a great maritime power. But 
this was long after the heroic, or, which is the same 
thing, the mystical age of Greece. When Corinth 
furnished her quota under Agamemnon, who from 
the extent of sea-coast, and from the islands under 
his command, was by far the greatest naval power 
of that time, she is barely mentioned, without any 
distinction to point out the consideration which she 
afterward acquired in maritime affairs. The fleet, 
which assembled at Aulis, consisted of open half- 
decked boats, a sort of galleys with one mast, fit for 
rowing or sailing. They were launched, and drawn 
up on the beach occasionally, or fastened on shore, 
and served as mere transports for soldiers, who were 
at the same time mariners. There is nothing in 
Homer that alludes to a regular sea engagement; or 
that conveys any idea of that manner of carrying on 
war. Those poles of an extraordinary length, which 
he mentions, seem to have been used as an offensive 
weapon against boarding; and may have been of 
service in landing. When Achilles or Ulysses talk 
of commanding naval expeditions, and destroying 
cities with a fleet : or when Hercules is said to have 
taken Troy with six ships only; the allusion is to 
the numbers, which they carried to act on shore. 
Their boats had a rudder, and ballast, but no an- 
chor. The name of it does not occur in Homer; 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 35 

nor was the use of that instrument known. If we 
may form a judgment from the raft of Ulysses, there 
was no metal employed ; the timbers being fastened 
by pegs. In short, we know/ from good authority, 
that ship-building had not made any great progress 
in Greece before the expedition of Xerxes. The 
best accounts thai; we can collect of the naval en- 
gagements of those times is a proof of this. 

It is, no doubt, difficult to describe and under- 
stand accounts of battles. But whoever places him- 
self on the spot where the Persian monarch is said 
to have viewed the battle of Salamis, and at the 
same time reads the account, which Herodotus, or 
that which iEschylus, an eye-witness, gives in his 
Persae, of that action ; and considers the shoalness 
of the water, and the small space into which so many 
ships were crowded, must think contemptibly of the 
marine engagements in those days. 

Agreeably to this account of ancient ships and 
ship-building, we see, that though Homer's seamen 
are expert in their manoeuvre, yet they are confined 
to the precautions of that timid coasting navigation, 
which is at this day practised in the Mediterranean, 
in slight undecked vessels, unfit to resist the open 
sea. Their first care is, to venture as little as pos-. 
sible out of sight of land, to run along shore, and to 
be ready to put in, and draw up their ships on the 
beach, if there is no port, on the first appearance of 
foul weather. 

We find Nestor, Diomedes, and Menelaus, con- 
sulting at Lesbos upon a doubt, which this imperfect 
state of the art alone could suggest. The question 
was, Whether, in their return to Greece, they should 
keep the Asiatic coast till they past Chios, which 
was the most secure, but the most tedious way 

c 2 



3(j ON THE ORIGINAL 

home; or venture directly across the open sea, which 

was the shortest, but the most dangerous? 

I was present at a consultation on the same sort 
of question, near the same place, and under the same 
circumstances, as far as they concern the illustration 
of our present inquiry. It was id the year 1742, 
that I happened to be on board His Majesty's ship 
the Chatham, then escorting the Turkey trade from 
Constantinople to Scanderoon. When we were be- 
tween Mytelene and Scio, and due north of the lat- 
ter, in a dark night, with a brisk gale at north-west, 
our Greek pilot proposed pushing through the chan- 
nel of Scio ; but our officers, not caring to engage 
so much with the land in that narrow passage, pre- 
ferred the broad course, and, hauling close up to 
the wind, left the island of Scio on the larboard side. 
If we compare our situation with that of Nestor, 
Diomede, and Menelaus, who had the ablest pilot 
of that age on board, we see, that though our desti- 
nations were different, our point under deliberation 
was so far precisely the same, that we both doubted 
between the shortest and the surest way. They 
ventured to sea, though it was most dangerous ; we 
chose it, because it was most safe; and this consti- 
tutes one of the great differences between ancient 
and modern navigation. 

As the most respectable commentators on Homer 
have, by their different constructions of part of the 
passage here alluded to, deviated from that plain 
sense of the Poet, in which, I think, his accuracy 
consists, I shall enter a little more largely into the 
consideration of the lines, which describe this navi- 
gation, in order to ascertain their meaning. Though 
it may carry us a little beyond the object immedi- 
ately before us, it will only anticipate a specimen of 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 37 

his historical accuracy (one of the proposed objects 
of this Essay), and will shew how cautious we 
should be not to disturb that delicate connexion 
and thread of circumstances, which are seldom 
disranged, even by the smallest alteration, without 
endangering his truth and consistence. 

Should we, in this view, strip those lines of their 
poetical dress, and extract a plain narrative or 
journal from the most literal and natural construc- 
tion of the whole passage, it will, with very little 
paraphrase, and that entirely furnished by the Poet 
himself, produce the following piece of ancient 
history. 

" The demolition of Troy being at length accom- 
plished, Agamemnon and Menelaus, disagreeing 
about the farther measures to be taken upon that 
occasion, summoned a council, in order to state 
their different opinions. But this was done precipi- 
tately, in the evening, an unseasonable time for de- 
liberation, when the chiefs, rising from table, and 
heated with wine, came improperly prepared for 
considerations of that moment. The event corre- 
sponded with the irregularity of such a proceeding; 
for, the council being assembled, Menelaus pro- 
posed, that they should embark for Greece : but 
Agamemnon advised them first to appease the wrath 
of Minerva by a hecatomb. This produced a de- 
bate, which ended in much altercation between the 
brothers ; so that the assembly broke up tumultu- 
ously, without coming to any resolution. 

" The Grecian army was, by these means, divided 
into two parties, one espousing the sentiments of 
Agamemnon, and the other those of Menelaus. Of 
the last were Nestor, Diomede, and Ulysses; who, 
having embarked their women and baggage, sailed 
next morning, with a fair wind, forTenedos; where 



38 ON THE ORIGINAL 

they sacrificed to the gods, to grant them a pro- 
pitious voyage. 

-Here a second dispute arose; for Ulysses s 
party, paying court to the commander in chief, re- 
turned to Troy. But Nestor, foreseeing the mis- 
chiefs likely to happen, prudently continued his 
voyage the second day, with Diomede, leaving 
Menelaus behind at Tenedos. However, Menelaus 
followed and overtook them the same day at Lesbos, 
where he found them deliberating whether, in that 
advanced season, it were most advisable to consult 
their safety in the slower method of coasting round 
by Mimas and the Cyclades, or to risk the shorter 
passage, and make directly for Eubcea. 

" They preferred the most expeditious course, 
and sailed the third day from Lesbos; and the 
wind proving very favourable, they made Geraestum 
that night. 

" Having so prosperously accomplished the most 
dangerous part of their navigation, they offered a 
sacrifice of thanks to Neptune ; and the wind being 
still fair, they pursued their voyage the fourth day 
along the coast of Greece. As they passed the Simian 
promontory, Menelaus had the misfortune to lose his 
pilot Phrontis, who died suddenly. Though im- 
patient to see his native country, he stopped here 
to perform the funeral rites, and pay the last duties 
to his skilful friend; but Diomede continued his 
voyage, and arrived the same day at Argos, being 
the fourth from his departure from Troy. Nestor 
took the advantage of the same fair wind, which 
carried him to Pylos." 

This journal of four days navigation is so entirely 
Homer, and Homer only, the circumstances of time 
and distance correspond so exactly with one ano- 
ther, and bore so scrupulous an examination, when 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 39 

we made the same voyage, that I shall not trouble 
the reader with any other confutation, either of 
Eustathius or Madame Dacier's sense of this passage. 
The first was led into an error by mistaking the 
meaning of one word, and the last, by the mistaking 
the distance from Lesbos to Eubcea; but both by 
attending more to grammatical criticism than to the 
genius and character of the Poet, and of the age 
when he wrote. 

Though, from the general character, by which 
Homer constantly distinguishes the Phoenicians as 
a commercial seafaring people, it has been naturally 
supposed, that he was indebted to that nation for 
much of his information with regard to distant 
voyages : yet I think we cannot be at a loss to ac- 
count for the Poet's acquiring at home all the know- 
ledge of this kind, which we meet with in his works. 
We know the Ionians were among the earliest navi- 
gators, particularly the Phocaeans and Milesians. 
The former are expressly called the discoverers of 
Adria, Iberia, Tuscany, and Tartessus. They are 
said to be the first among the Greeks, who under- 
took long voyages; and we find they had established 
an intercourse, and even formed close and friendly 
connexions, on the ocean, as early as the time of 
Cyrus the Great. The Milesians were so remark- 
able for colonization, that they had founded above 
seventy cities in different parts of the world, and 
were respectable at sea long before the Persian in- 
vasion. Nor can we, except from the resources of 
their navigation and commerce, account for their 
being a match for the Lydian monarchy, as early as 
the reign of Gyges; up to which period, from that 
of Croesus, we can trace these two nations almost 
constantly at war. 

When we consider how far back this leads us, 



40 ON THE ORIGINAL 

upon explicit historical authority, and without the 
equivocal and suspicious aid of etymology, upon 
which Phoenician colonization is so much extended ; 
it does not seem probable that Homer's couutrymen 
should have arrived at so flourishing a state of navi- 
gation, so soon after his age, without having made 
some progress towards it before his time. 

To what extent navigation was known to him, 
either from his own experience or the information of 
others, is rendered difficult to ascertain, by the con- 
stant method he follows of preserving some reality 
in his wildest fictions. The history of the Cimme- 
rians seems to have furnished some of his ideas with 
regard to the gloomy infernal shades, and the dis- 
tinguishing features in the Phseacian character are 
Phoenician. Even where he is most fabulous, he 
takes the hint from tales propagated before his time, 
and embroiders his own variations on that extrava- 
gance, which had already the sanction- of popular 
credulity. Thus the Poet's genius, though impa- 
tient of the limited knowledge of his age, is unwil- 
ling to abandon Nature ; and when he seems to de- 
sert her, it is in favour of some pleasing irregularity, 
which vulgar opinion had substituted in her place. 
This mixture of something, that was either true, or 
commonly believed to be so, with regard to the scene 
of his fabulous narration, is observable in his de- 
scription of the islands of Circe, iEolus, and, above 
all, in that of Calypso. 

His knowledge of the sun setting in the ocean 
might fall within the observation even of that con- 
fined state of navigation, which we may reasonably 
allow to his age; for it is probable, that not only the 
Phoenicians, but the Poet's countrymen, had passed 
the Pillars of Hercules, and of course could, as eye- 
witnesses, report such an appearance. But bow he 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 41 

could learn that the sun rises out of the ocean, or 
that the globe is entirely surrounded by water, was 
so much beyond my idea of his experience, that I 
continued to attribute this knowledge to guess and 
conjecture; till upon farther consideration I was in- 
duced to think, that this account of the ocean, upon 
which so much of his geographical science is found- 
ed, will, if rightly understood, rather convince us of 
his ignorance upon that head ; and that the ocean 
in his time had a very different meaning, from that 
which it now conveys. Nor am I surprised that, so 
much later, Herodotus should treat this idea of an 
ocean, where the sun rises, as a poetical fiction. 

The country and manners of Phoenicia and Egypt 
were so well known to Homer, and so frequently 
alluded to in his works, that it is needless to point 
out the particular passages. He also mentions 
Arabia and Lybia, but probably did not know the 
extensive southern limits : neither were they de- 
scribed particularly by the best of the Grecian geo- 
graphers. I should imagine, that he was not a 
stranger to Judea and its inhabitants : but as the 
authorities for such an opinion may not interest every 
reader, I shall refer them, who have any curiosity, 
to the annexed note. h 

h There is nothing in Greek or Roman fable more known than 
the story of Typhon, who was vanquished by Jove's thunder, and 
buried in fire and sulphur. The poets differ about the place, 
where this giant was defeated. I am of opinion that the plain of 
Sodom and Gomorrah was the original scene of this fable. My 
notions are not merely drawn from the striking similitude between 
the Greek and Jewish accounts of the impiety which drew down 
the divine vengeance, but I found my opinion on the testimony of 
Homer and Hesiod, who place the scene of this fable eiv Apifioig. 
Now, the Apijiot are confessedly the same as the Syrians, as we 
learn from the Septuagint, Strabo, Josephus, Eustathius, Bochart, 
and others. There is moreover a line belonging to the passage, I 



42 ON THE ORIGINAL 

He has left us traces of his knowledge of parti- 
cular places beyond Thebes to the south, as far as 
^Ethiopia. Beyond this was ^Ethiopia, the country 
of the Blacks, divided into two parts, containing 
most probably, as Strabo thinks, the S. E. and S.W. 
part of the southern globe, as divided by the Red 
Sea. But the extremities of the earth here, as else- 
where, are terminated by the river ocean. 

That the Euxine or Black Sea was known to 
Homer, I have not the least doubt: of this his de- 
scription of the Hippomolgians, and other nations 
in its neighbourhood, affords sufficient proofs : nor 
can we draw any conclusions to the contrary, from 
his neither mentioning this sea, nor Sinope and other 
cities on its coast. It is strange how far the argu- 

have quoted, which, I believe, is not to be found in any MSS. of 
Homer. We meet with it imperfectly preserved by Strabo ; but it 
has been happily corrected by Dr. Taylor : 

Xwpw evi dpvoevTi Xdrjg ev ttiovi ^rj/no)' 
Which he renders, 

Xwpw evt SpvoevT lovdriQ ev ttlovl fyfup. — Strabo, 1. 13, p. 929. 

See Taylor's Civil Law, p. 554, 

The passage thus restored fixes the bed of Typhon to the spot 
in the world most adapted to such a fable, and adds such propriety 
to the simile, that I think it is impossible for any man who has read 
Homer with pleasure, to visit the Dead Sea and plains of Sodom 
aud Gomorrah, without feeling a lively reflection of this passage. 
When Virgil carries the scene of this fable to the neighbourhood of 
Naples, it is evident that he had this passage of Homer in view, 
and that out of the two words eiv apifxoiQ of the Greek Poet he 
forms Inarime, a name which was afterward affixed to the little 
island before called Pithensa, Pithecusa, and ^naria. It is at this 
day called Ischia. Whether this was by mistake or design, is 
doubtful. However, I think it probable, that Virgil introduced 
this novelty into the Roman mythology, and entailed it upon his 
poetical successors, Ovid, Lucan, Claudian, Statius, &c. In this 
they seem to have acquiesced implicitly without examination : for 
Pliny roundly asserts (1. iii. c . 6.) the Inarime of Naples to have 
been so called by the Greek Poet. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 43 

ment of the Poet's ignorance of places, because he 
does not expressly mention them, has been carried ; 
but never more unreasonably than in the present 
case. Is it a fair way of judging to suppose, that 
Homer did not know Sinope, a colony founded by 
his own countrymen, the Ionians, rather than con- 
clude, either that he did not think proper to take 
notice of this, more than of several other places not 
less considerable : or that it was founded after his 
time, or that he could not, without gross anachron- 
ism, introduce, in the times of the Trojan war, the 
name of a city built so long after? 

I shall not therefore conclude, because the flux 
and reflux of the Adriatic must have been matter 
of particular curiosity to the Asiatic Greeks, that 
Homer must necessarily have mentioned it : for we 
see that he takes no notice of the tides of the Eu- 
ripus, so much the object of admiration in all 
times, though this strait, where the Grecian fleet 
first assembled, is in the midst of those countries, 
which he has described with accuracy. 

I must nevertheless observe, that though some 
marks of most other parts of the Mediterranean 
seas are to be found in the Iliad or Odyssey, yet I 
could not discover the least trace of the Adriatic in 
either of those Poems ; i for we find no country 

1 1 may be told, that the evidences by Hesiod, and also by 
Homer (if the Batrachomyomachiabe his), are explicit, who makes 
Physignathus boast his birth to have been bred upon the banks of 
the Eridanus. It is true : but this was another river : for the Padus 
had not acquired its Greek name so early : nor was the story of 
Phaethon yet invented. Pliny fixes this fable no farther back than 
/Eschylus. Herodotus mentions the name ; but in a way, that 
shews he could not think of any such river in the Adriatic (see 
Bayer and Polybius) : nor can I find that this old historian, who 
had collected so much of other places, was at all acquainted with 
this Gulf; which, considering its vicinity to Greece and Italy, 



44 ON THE ORIGINAL 

mentioned nearer its coast than Thesprotia. If the 
assertion of Herodotus be true, that this sea was 
discovered by an Ionian, there may be great pro- 
priety in the Poet's silence, as it is a mark of his 
care to distinguish the state of things in his own 
age, from that of the time he describes. I must 
own, that, besides the positive testimony of the 
oldest profane historian, there are other reasons 
which incline me to believe, that the coasts of this 
Gulf on either side, above the Ceraunian mountains, 
was not frequented by the first navigators: though 
not so distant as many places better known. I 
shall give the reader the observations upon which 
this conjecture is founded, as they occurred to me 
in travelling on the Dalmatian and Italian sides of 
this Gulf, but more particularly in a voyage I made 
in May, 1742, from Venice to Corfu, in a Venetian 
ship, the Ercole e Rosa, commanded by Captain 
Rota, a skilful seaman and a good pilot, who had 
forty years constant experience of that navigation. 

The difference between the Dalmatian and Italian 
coasts of the Adriatic is remarkable : that of Dal- 
matia is bold and steep, with some good ports for 
the largest ships; few rivers are discharged on this 
side of the Gulf, the disposition of the ground being 
such, that almost all the moisture of the adjacent 
countries is carried into the Danube. 

The Italian shore, on the contrary, is low, flat, 
and shoaly. Here great rivers from the Alps, and 
rapid torrents from the Apennines, carry much rub- 



affords less classical information than any other part of our 
travels. Supposing Phaeacia to have been the same as Corfu, 
Homer's account of it implies, that he knew nothing farther that 
way : for they are called foremen, which can only be understood 
with relation to the east. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 45 

bish into the sea, and by these means cause the 
land to encroach upon it ; so that all the harbours, 
from Venice to Brundusium, are, in some degree, 
affected by it, according to their vicinity to those 
rivers and torrents. Ravenna, once the principal 
harbour, and naval station of the Romans on that 
side of Italy, being in the neighbourhood of the 
Po, has been long since choked up, and the place 
where it was situated is now a league from the sea. 

The general navigation of this sea (particularly 
that part occupied by the Venetians) is regulated 
agreeably to this description of it. Ships avoid the 
Italian shore, and indeed seldom get sight of it, 
though in a very clear day I could discover the 
mountains of Ancona from those of the opposite 
side. They keep the Dalmatian coast, in sailing 
for Venice till they get as high as Rovigno, a con- 
siderable town in Istria, where in summer, they 
take in a pilot to conduct them across the Gulf 
to Venice; but in the dangerous winter months, they 
keep the coast as far up as Parenzo, ten miles 
higher, before they steer directly for Venice; and 
signals are erected alternately at Rovigno and Pa- 
renzo, according to the season of the year, to sig- 
nify at which of those places pilots attend. This is 
the common method observed by ships bound for 
Venice; though English vessels, accustomed to a 
bolder navigation, often despise those precautions. 

Causes, so permanent and invariable in their na- 
ture, must have always produced like effects ; and 
we may reasonably suppose the Italian shore to 
have been ever dangerous, and that the method of 
keeping close upon the Dalmatian coast was still 
more strictly observed in the early and imperfect 
state of navigation. This is the course which Vir- 
gil makes Antenor take ; but with this difference, 



40 ON THE ORIGINAL 

that, not having the advantage of a pilot, by which 
the navigation is at present abridged, he proceed- 
ed along shore to the farthest extremity of the 
Gulf. This was, no doubt, the Roman course in 
Virgil's time ; but, as the necessity of this circuitous 
navigation could never occur to those, who are un- 
acquainted with the nature of the Italian and 
Dalmatian coasts, and have formed their ideas of 
Antenor's voyage from maps alone, it is not extra- 
ordinary, that the Commentators should not have 
been able hitherto to comprehend the geography of 
one of the most original descriptions of the JEneid. 
Let us see the passage ; the Poet's vindication seems 
to lie within a narrow compass, and is not foreign 
to our subject. 

Antenor potuit, inediis elapsus Achivis, 
Illyricos penetrare sinus atqueintima tutus 
Regna Liburnorum, et fontera superare Timavi ; 
Unde per ora novera, vasto cum murniure montis, 
It mare praeruptum, et pelago premit arva sonanti. 
Hie tamen ille urbem Patavi sedesque locavit 
Teucrorum. k ].v. i. -24*2. 



k As these lines are before me, I cannot help observing that 
they are not understood by any commentator I have seen, and the 
words mare prcer upturn seem to signify literally the sea, and not 
figuratively the river Timavus, as they are commonly explained. 
And that this is not a description of the river runnini: with 
violence into the sea, but of the sea bursting into the channel, and 
even the sources of the river, and overflowing the laud. I won- 
der how this escaped so constant a reader, and so perfect a judge 
of Virgil, as my late friend Mr. Holdsworth, who had been upon 
the spot, and must have seen that the Timavus is a collection of 
several springs, joining in one stream, which discharges itself into 
the sea quietly, after a very short course, when the tide is out ; but, 
when the tide comes in, it not only beats back the fresh water 
with noise and violence, but overflows the laud, rendering the pas- 
sage impracticable till it ebbs again, as travellers between Vienna 
and Venice frequently experience. I think, that by restoriug this 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 47 

A direct course must have brought Antenor to 
Padua, before he could reach theTimavus, contrary 
to the description in those lines. Various conjec- 
tures have been formed to solve this difficulty : some 
charge Virgil with a mistake in geography, others 
change the situation of Padua, rather than give up 
the Poet; while a third conjecture, in defiance of the 
universal testimony of antiquity, and in spite of 
Virgil's circumstantial description, changes the 
river, and will have the Brent to be the Timavus of 
the ancients. But they all agree in the obscurity of 
the passage. Now, if, as we have stated it, agree- 
ably both to the principle and practice of this navi- 
gation, we bring Antenor along the lllyrian shore, 
he must pass the Timavus, before he arrives at the 
place of his destination : and his progress will be 
marked exactly in that order, in which it is laid 
down by the poet; viz. Ulyrium, Liburnia, Timavus, 
Padua. 

But whatever Virgil and the Roman historians 
may say either of Antenor's or Diomedes voyage, it 
is without any authority from Homer, who is so far 
from taking any notice of the Adriatic, or Ionian 
Gulf (for that was the name under which we might 
expect to find it in the old writers) that he appears 

sense of the passage, we recover the peculiar propriety of expres- 
sion; which is more justly descriptive of the breaking waves of a 
returning tide, than of the canal of a river, however violent. 

The singularity of this communication of the Adriatic with the 
sources of the Timavus, and the situation of the river at the head 
of the Gulf, gave rise to a very ancient vulgar opinion, which tra- 
dition has preserved among the common people to this day. They 
say that the Timavus supplies the Adriatic with water, and they 
therefore call it the Mother of that sea: Polybius took notice of 
this (see Strabo, lib. V.) f7rt^wpiovg Trtjyrjy iceu /urjrepn 6a\ciTTr)c ovofia- 
frtv tov tottov, and the peasants at this time call it, La madre del 
mare. 



48 ON THE ORIGINAL 

to make Ithaca the boundary of his geographical 
knowledge that way, and seems to treat Corcyra 
with that ambiguity, which we have observed him 
to affect, when he gets into his fabulous regions. 
And the more I consider the coast of this sea, its 
dangerous navigation, and the inhospitality and fe- 
rocity of the inhabitants of the north-east coast, at 
all times, from the Sinus Flanaticus (Gulf of Quar- 
ner) to the Acroceraunian mountains inclusively, 
the more I am inclined to think, it was but imper- 
fectly known to Greece for some time after the 
Trojan war. 



HOMERS WINDS. 

Under the article of Homer's Country, we haw 
anticipated some observations on the Winds of that 
climate : but his Navigation naturally engages u> in 
a farther consideration of this subject. We find 
only those which blow from the four cardinal points 
expressly mentioned in the Iliad and Odyssey. In 
the storm which Neptune prepares against Vljm 
sailing from Calypso's island, they are all introduced 
in the following order, Eurus, Notus, Zephyras, 
and Boreas. 

So imperfect a list of winds corresponds with the 
coasting navigation of those times, and forbids D8 
to expect more than a general idea of their nature 
and qualities. Some of the ancients imagined, that 
the Poet meant to express a subdivision of those 
principal winds by certain epithets ; which they un- 
derstood to convey the idea (for which it should 
seem the Greek language had not yet found a name\ 
it is rather to be discovered where he employs two 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 49 

of them together, as in the instances already taken 
notice of, where Boreas and Zephyrus blow from 
the Thracian mountains on the iEgean Sea ; for if 
we translate them literally, the north-west, we 
shall bring that description still nearer to Nature 
and truth. 1 

Taking those winds in the order in which the 
Poet has placed them, we find their most remarkable 
difference of character is, that Eurus and Notus are 
more mild and gentle, Zephyrus and Boreas more 
stormy and boisterous. The two first are intro- 
duced less frequently than the last ; for, as allusions 
of this kind generally serve to illustrate animated 
pictures, the characters of Zephyrus and Boreas 
best suit the Poet's purpose upon such occasions. 
Accordingly we find them employed oftener in the 
Iliad than in the Odyssey. Eurus is never distin- 
guished by an epithet : and Notus only by that of 
swift. They are never represented as persons, ex- 
cept in one instance; they are described -by quali- 
ties, the reverse of those of their antagonist winds ; 
for Eurus is employed in melting the snow, which 
Zephyrus brings down, and Notus covers the 
mountain-tops with clouds, which it is the business 
of Boreas to dispel. 

Zephyrus is called hard-blowing, rapid, the swift- 
est of all the winds, noisy, whistling or rattling, 
moist, and is represented as bringing rain or snow. 

I find two passages in the Odyssey, which seem 
to give an idea of Zephyrus, different from this 

1 See Martyu's Virgil, 8vo. p. 336. Pliny, H. N. 1. ii. c. 47. 
See Strabo, p. 608, 609, notes. See Hesiod. Theog. v. 388. 

It is extraordinary that Hesiod should omit Eurus, Theog. v. 
379. 869. See Strabo, 1. i. p. 28, where the ancient writers upon 
winds are mentioned, Thrasyalcis, Aristotle, Timosthenes, Bion. 

D 



50 ON THE ORIGINAL 

general character, and more like the Zephyr of mo- 
dern poetry. One is in the Poet's description of the 
Elysian plain, " where neither winter's snow nor 
rain are seen, but a continual refreshing Zephyr 
blows from the ocean ;" the other is in the descrip- 
tion of Alcinous's gardens, where the rich vegeta- 
tion is ascribed to a constant Zephyr. 

When we recollect (what I have attempted to 
prove) that the Zephyr of Homer's country, upon 
which he must have formed his familiar ideas of that 
wind, blew from the mountains of Thrace; and that 
the two instances which I have given, are the onlj 
ones in which he describes the qualities of that wind 
in a distant western climate, instead of contradic- 
tion and inconsistence, we discover an extensive 
knowledge of Nature. For, while he is accurate in 
his accounts of the known appearances of his own 
country, he accommodates his descriptions to what 
he had either heard or seen of distant parts. To 
have used the gentle Zephyr, in a simile addressed 
to Ionian readers, or to have given the character of 
severity to that of western climates, would have 
been equally incorrect. 

Both Zephyrus and Boreas make their appear- 
ance as persons ; they are equally concerned in 
kindling the funeral pile of Patroclus, at the prayer 
of Achilles. Xanthus and Balius, the immortal 
horses of that hero, are the offspring of Podarge 
and Zephyrus; a pedigree worthy of Homers ima- 
gination, but, perhaps, like many of his fictions, en- 
grafted upon some tradition, which had popular 
prejudice on its side. For a strange notion pre- 
vailed, that upon the coast of the Atlantic ocean 
mares were impregnated by the west wind ; and 
however ridiculous this opinion may appear, it has 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 51 

been seriously supported by grave and respectable 
writers of a more enlightened age. As to the 
amours'" of Zephyrus and Flora, they are the natu- 
ral mythology of later poets and of a more western 
climate, and unknown to Ionia and Homer. 

Boreas is rapid and violent, but serene aud dry- 
ing; dispels clouds, brings hoar frost and snow, is 
clear, pure, wholesome, and reviving. 

This account of Boreas coincides much more 
with that of modern poetry, and is in general more 
agreeable to the experience and observation of 
western climates, than that of Eurus and Zephyrus. 

It has probably been owing to Homer's example, 
that succeeding poets and artists, though in other 
respects departing from his description of those 
subjects, often represent Boreas and Zephyrus as 
persons. Their air and figure are familiar to us in 
the machinery of modern poetry, as well as in the 
works of painters and sculptors, who give the cha- 
racter of harsh and aged severity to one, and that 
of youthful beauty and gentleness to the other; 
while Eurus and Notus, especially the latter, ap- 
pear so seldom in a human shape, and are so im 
perfectly described, that we have no determinate 
idea of their dress or persons. 

We find the figures of the four principal with the 
four intermediate winds, in alto relievo, bigger than 
life, on the octagon tower of Andronicus Cyrrhesfes 
at Athens. As this is the only monument of anti- 
quity, that I have seen, where they are so well exe- 
cuted and so well preserved, I examined them with 
a view to those conformities between the poet and 
the sculptor, by which we sometimes trace the bor- 

m Ver erat ; errabam: Zeplijrus conspexit ; abibam. 
Insequitur; fugio ; fortior illc fuit. 

D 2 



52 ON THE ORIGINAL 

rowed idea to its original source, but with little 
success. Whether it was that the artist was con- 
fined to certain ideas by the intended use of this 
tower, which was particularly adapted to the me- 
ridian of Attica ; or that his invention was inferior to 
his execution, I shall not venture to judge; but 
there is a sameness of attitude, drapery, and cha- 
racter, in those winds, that would make it very dif- 
ficult to distinguish their names, were they not in- 
scribed over each figure. 

I cannot finish this article without comparing 
Homer and Virgil as navigators, in order to shew 
the superior accuracy of the former with regard to 
those minute circumstances of Nature and truth. 
The winds which Homer employs in his poem are 
adapted to the ship's sailing ; to which Virgil does 
not pay the same attention. I shall confine myself 
to one instance. The description of the departure 
of iEneas from Carthage is not only inconsistent 
with truth and possibility, in this respect, but con- 
tradictory to itself. He sails in the morning with a 
west wind, which is very improperly called favour- 
able ; n but before he is out of sight of Carthage, we 
find him pursuing his course with a north wind, 
which is still more contrary to his intended course; 
when, in the evening, he has gotten clear of the 
land, the wind changes to the west, with every 
prognostic of a stormy night; Palinurus, in this 
situation, orders his men to reef their sails and ply 
their oars ; but, finding it vain to struggle with this 
west wind, which was before called favourable, he 

n Nate Dea, potes hoc sub casu ducere somnos ? 
Nee, quae circumstant te deinde pericula cernis ? 
Demens! necZEPHYROs audis spirare secundos ? 

-En. iv. 560. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 53 

consults the stars in a very dark night, and<;onclud- 
ing that he is not far from the coast of Sicily, steers 
for that island. 



HOMERS GEOGRAPHY; 

AND POPE'S TRANSLATION. 

We can produce no evidence of Homer's travels so 
satisfactory, as his geographical accuracy, a thorough 
examination of which we must reserve for a more 
enlarged plan of this work, if I should be ever able 
to complete it. For it would be impossible to give 

Interea medium /Eneas jam classe tenebat 
Certus iter, fluctusque atros Aquilone secabat; 
Moenia respiciens, qua? jam infelicis Elisae 
Collucent flammis : qua? tantum incenderat iguem, 
Causa latet: duri magno sed amore dolores 
Polluto, notumque, furens quid foemina possit, 
Triste per augurium Teucrorum pectora ducunt. 
Ut pelagus tenuere rates, nee jam amplius ulla 
Occurrit tellus; maria undique et undique coeluni ; 
Olli ceeruleus supra caput adstitit imber, 
Noclem, hyememque ferens, et inhorruit unda tenebris. 
Ipse gubernator puppi Palinurus ab alta: 
Heu quianam tanti cinxerunt octhera nimbi? 
Quidve, Pater Neptune, paras? sic deinde locutus 
Colligere arma jubet, validisque incumbere remis ; 
Obliquatque sinus in ventum, ac talia fatur. 
Magnanime jEnea, non si mihi Jupiter auctor 
Spondeat, hoc sperem Italiam contingere coelo. 
Nee nos obniti contra, nee tendere tantum 
Sufficimus : superat quoniam fortuna, sequamur. 
Quoque vocat vertamus iter : nee litora longe 
Fida reor fraterna Erycis portusque Sicanos, 
Si modo rite memor servata remetior astra. 
Turn pius iEneas, Equidem sic poscere ventos 
Jamdudum, et frustra cerno te tendere contra : 
Flecte viam velis. jEn. v. 1. 



54 ON THE ORIGINAL 

this article the consideration it deserves, without 
exceeding the bounds which we proposed to this 
Essay. His map of Greece alone would take a 
volume to do it justice, especially as we followed 
Homer through that country, under the direction of 
Strabo, whose judicious commentary upon the geo- 
graphical part of the Iliad and Odyssey leaves us 
less reason to regret the loss of twelve books of 
Apollodorus the Athenian, with twenty-three of Me- 
nogenes, and the works of several other writers 00 
this subject; among whom Demetrius of Seep 
composed sixty books on thirty lines of the cata- 
logue. So diffusive and extensive an illustration 
does not, I confess, give a favourable idea of the 
work : but as an apology for Demetrius (perhaps a 
compliment to Homer) I must observe, that la* lived 
within sight of Troy, upon an elevated spot, which 
commanded a view of the great scene of action ; and 
of course he might be more particularly interested 
in that minute accuracy of his author, which fell so 
much under his daily observation. 

The reader will be less surprised at those volu- 
minous commentaries on the catalogue, if he con- 
siders how highly the authority of this venerable 
record was respected, even by the jurisprudence of 
those times. In some cities it was by law enacted, 
that the youth should learn the catalogue by heart. 
Solon the lawgiver appealed to this code, in justifi- 
cation of the Athenian claim against the pretensions 
of the Megareans, when the right to Salamis wz 
warmly contested by Athens and Megara. And 
the decision of that matter was at last referred to 
five Spartan judges, who, on their part, admitted 
the nature of the evidence. And the affair was ac- 
cordingly determined in favour of the Athenians, 
though by a different reading more favourable 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 55 

their claim. We find three other litigated cases 
with regard to territorial property and dominion, 
which are said to have been determined by reference 
to this original chart. 

That Homer should escape so entire, out of the 
hands of lawyers and grammarians, is a piece of 
good fortune to letters, upon which his friends have 
great reason to congratulate themselves. For, con- 
sidering how cruelly both his compositions and the 
countries they describe have been tortured by bar- 
barous treatment of various kinds, and the changes 
they have undergone in so great a length of time, 
his descriptions correspond more with present ap- 
pearances, than could be reasonably expected. 

Not only the permanent and durable objects of 
his description, such as his rock, hill, dale, promon- 
tory, &c. continue in many instances to bear up- 
questionable testimony of his correctness, and shew, 
by a strict propriety of his epithets, how faithfully 
they were copied ; but even his more fading and 
changeable landscape, his shady grove, verdant 
lawn, and flowery mead, his pasture and tillage, 
with all his varieties of corn, wine, and oil, agree 
surprisingly with the present face of those countries. 

So remarkable a resemblance between periods so 
distant from each other would induce us to believe, 
what is not otherwise improbable, that agriculture 
is pretty much in the same neglected state, in that 
part of the world, at present, as it was in the time 
of the Poet. 1 doubt much, whether his descrip- 
tions of this kind could have so well stood the test 
of our examination, two thousand years ago, in those 
days of elegance and refinement, when Nature was 
probably decked out in a studied dress, unlike the 
elegant dishabille in which Homer and we found her. 

But, I must own that great part of the amuse- 



56 ON THE ORIGINAL 

ment, which we enjoyed in Homer and Strabo's 
company, on the spot, arose as much from the in- 
vestigation, as the discovery of the correspondence 
and resemblance. Nor can I, for that reason, pro- 
mise the same entertainment to the reader, should I 
live to lay before him our farther observations on this 
head ; yet I hope my labour will not be entirely 
lost, if I can raise the attention of future commenta- 
tors and translators to a matter, which has, I think, 
been too negligently treated. I cannot perhaps, more 
effectually point out the use of a more extensive 
consideration of this subject, than by shewing how 
much a neglect of it has been injurious to the Po 
truth, to which I shall at present confine myself. 

I choose to take the instances, which I shall pro- 
duce for this purpose, from Mr. Pope's elegant 
translation, rather than from others of less merit I 
because I think they must have more weight, when 
collected from that quarter, to which the Iliad and 
Odyssey have the greatest obligations: for though 
Madame Dacier comes nearest to the Poet's mean- 
ing, I believe it will be acknowledged, that of all 
the languages we know, in which Homer has hi- 
therto appeared, it is in English alone that he con- 
tinues to be a poet. 

While, upon this occasion, I shall take that li- 
berty with Mr. Pope, which a free inquiry demands. 
I shall not forget how much is due to so great an 
ornament of our country; nor am I insensible of 
the great merit of his very poetical translation. I 
could with pleasure enlarge upon his improvements 
of the original, were the beauties of that work H 
much connected with my subject, as the ungrateful 
task of finding fault, in which I happen to be en- 
gaged : but, as the scope of this Essay is to vindicate 
the truth and consistence of Homer's description. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 57 

the translation comes properly before us only so 
far, as it contradicts that character. 

Now, though it must be acknowledged, that Mr. 
Pope is the only translator, who has in a certain de- 
gree, kept alive that divine spirit of the Poet, which 
has almost expired in other hands; yet I cannot 
help thinking, that those who wish to be thoroughly 
acquainted, either with the manners and characters 
of Homer's age, or the landscape and geography of 
his country, will be disappointed, if they expect to 
find them in this translation. Had Mr. Pope pre- 
served the first; viz. the manners and characters, 
Homer would have continued to speak Greek to 
most of his English readers. For though the dis- 
guise of several passages in a modern dress may 
proceed from his not being very conversant with 
ancient life and manners; yet he often purposely 
accommodates his author to the ideas of those, for 
whom he translates; substituting beauties of his 
own (as similar as he can bring them to the origi- 
nal) in the room of those which he despaired of 
making intelligible. 

But as a truly poetical translation could not be 
effected, even by Mr. Pope, without his u venturing 
to open the prospect a little, by the addition of a 
few epithets, or short hints of description ;" so " the 
most valuable piece of geography left us, concern- 
ing the state of Greece in that early period," has of 
course suffered by such liberties; v and, when every 
descriptive epithet in Homer should have been re- 
ligiously preserved, Mr. Pope's alterations have 
produced a new map of his own, and deprived us 
of that merit of the original which he called upon 

p See Pope's observations on the Catalogue. 



58 ON THE ORIGINAL 

us to admire. Thus the GraBa and spacious My- 

calessus of Homer become by translation, 

" Greea near the main, 
And Mycalessia's ample piny plain." 
Had it been proper to describe the narrow 
strait of the Euripus, by the name of the mam, 
yet it is not at all distinguished, by such a situa- 
tion, from several other places mentioned on this 
shore ; and as to the ample piny plain, we searched 
for it to no purpose. It is, therefore, matter of 
doubt, whether it existed in the time of Homer, 
though mentioned by Statius about a thousand years 
after. Indeed it would be difficult to assign any 
reason for the addition in the English, except that 
the rhyme requires that Grsea should be near the 
main in the first line, and that Mycalessia (for so the 
translator was obliged to write it in order to make 
out the line) owes both to rhyme and measure her 
piny plain in the second. 

When the additional epithets of the translator are 
descriptive of some permanent circumstances, as in 
those lines ; 

u From high Trcezene and Maseta's plain 
And fair YEgina, circled by the main ;" 

the description (though not Homer's, and inertly 
introduced to help out the rhyme and measure) 
has probably been always true; but when unautho- 
rized, and without consulting his author, he enriches 
the picture with the fluctuating and transitory cir- 
cumstances of husbandry, it is less excusable. Thus 
when he informs us, that the following two places 
were famous 

" For flocks Erythrae, Glissa for the vine ;" 

and mentions those 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 59 

" Who plough the spacious Orchomenian plain ;" 

he substitutes the state of those countries in the 
time of Plutarch and Statius, from whom he takes 
his account of them, for what it might have been 
in that of Homer, who connects no such ideas of 
pasture, vintage, and corn, with those names. 

In short, these concise, but descriptive, and 
therefore interesting, sketches of ancient arts, cus- 
toms, and manners, with which Homer has enli- 
vened his map of Greece, cannot be translated 
faithfully, and at the same time poetically. Mr. 
Pope has succeeded surprisingly in the latter; but 
then his study of a flowing and musical versifica- 
tion frequently betrays him into a florid profusion 
of unmeaning ornament, in which the object is 
greatly disguised, if not totally lost ; as when, for 
the grassy Pteleon of Homer, we have, 

" And grassy Pteleon deck'cl with cheerful greens, 
The bow'rs of Ceres, and the sylvan scenes." 

In the same manner the single epithet, noble, 
which Homer gives the Cephissus, is extended to a 
complete landscape. 

u From those rich regions, where Cephissus leads 
His silver current through the flow'ry meads." 

He is still more lavish of ornament, when he 
dresses up the Peneus and leafy Pelion of Homer in 
as much additional finery, as can be well crowded 
into four lines: 

11 Who dwell where Pelion, crown'd with piny boughs, 
Obscures the glade, and nods his shaggy brows ; 
Or where thro' flow'ry Tempe Peneus stray'd, 
The region stretch'd beneath his mighty shade." 

Here the translator gives us a picture, not with- 
out its beauties; but beauties so much his own, that 



(JO ON THE ORIGINAL 

they retain little of Homer, either as to the subject, 
or the manner. 

We shall say no more at present of the catalogue, 
where Rhaetor is green, Lilaea fair, and Cynos rich, 
without any authority from the original ; Anemonia 
has her stately shining turrets, and Corinth her im- 
perial towers, Parrhasia her snowy cliffs, Tarphe 
her sylvan seats, and jEtylus her low walls, from 
Pope, not from Homer. 

It is owing to these liberties, that we find the old 
Poet often loaded with English ambiguity, and even 
contradiction, for which there is no foundation in the 
Greek ; as where Ithaca is sometimes fair, and some- 
times barren, and where, in spite of the sandy coast 
of Pylos in one place, we have, in another, 

" Alpheus' plenteous stream, that yields 
Increase of harvest to the Pvlian fields." 

Besides those insuperable difficulties which ev. 
poetical translator of Homer has to encounter, when 
we consider (what it is our great object at present to 
point out) that he copied from Nature, and trusted 
to his own observation, we see how this original 
method of collecting his materials produces a con- 
sistent whole out of corresponding parts, every ob- 
ject of description recurring, though in a new light, 
yet always agreeable to the first idea, which he con- 
veys of it. And when we also consider, that none 
of his commentators, since the time of .Strabo, have 
been at the pains of forming to themselves any dis- 
tinct idea of his geography ; it is not surprising, that 
when they lose sight of the original, they should be 
inconsistent, not only with truth, but 'with them- 
selves. 

However, the translator's representation of the 
same scene of action under different appearances, 
m different parts of the poem, falls less under ob^ 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 61 

vation, than when the same description contradicts 
itself within the compass of a few lines ; as where 
we see 

" The great Achilles stretch'd along the shore, 
Where, dash'd on rocks, the broken billows roar;" 

though, in three lines after, 

" Along the grass his languid members fall :" 

and yet, after all, the same description, which puts 
him to sleep, both on the rocks, and on the grass, 
awakes him ; 

" Starting from the sands." 

Should we give this sleepy Achilles to a painter, 
he must be strangely puzzled with the hero's rocky, 
grassy, sandy couch ; a sort of prevarication (if I 
may use that expression) impracticable upon can- 
vas. 

Thus, while the Poet, by judiciously selecting the 
mere characterizing circumstances of the object 
which he describes, leaves us fully impressed with 
truth and reality ; his Translator, over-studious of 
embellishment, wanders into inconsistence in search 
of it : nay, sometimes into sudden contradiction ; as 
when the same picture of the sea is, in one line, 

" The foaming flood;" 

and in that immediately following 

" The level surface of the deep." 

Much of this is, no doubt, owing to that unhappy 
restraint of English rhyme, which so unworthily en- 
grosses his thoughts, that he not only frequently 
loses sight of his author, but is sometimes even; di- 
verted from a just sense of his beauties, and betrayed 
into an unfaithful translation, of what he perfectly 
well understood. Of this distracted attention we 



02 ON THE ORIGINAL 

find a ridiculous effect in that passage of the Hind, 
which expresses Hector's eagerness to retrieve the 
honour of his brother Paris, who had proposed to 
decide the war by single combat with Menelaus 
The spirit of the original is as justly conceived in 
Mr. Pope's note, as it is unhappily misrepresented 
in his translation; and both together produce the 
following contradictory medley : " Hector stays not 
to reply to his brother, but runs away with the chal- 
lenge immediately, with steps majestically slow." 

When these discordant pictures of the same ob 
ject are thus closely confronted, the falling off is so 
striking, that we must, in candour, suppose it the 
work of different hands hastily revised. 

It is impossible to account, in any other way, I 
some ofthe inaccuracies of the map of Troy prefixed 
to the English translation. So capital an error as that 
of discharging the Scamander into the iEgean Sea, 
instead of the Hellespont, is a striking specimen of 
the careless and superficial manner in which thi*> 
matter has been treated. Yet this mistake, material 
as it is, does not seem to mislead the Translator in 
other respects : for he is as inconsistent with his on u 
incorrect map, as both he and his map are with tin 
real situation ofthe ground ; and, by not having i»- 
certained any invariable and fixed idea of tin BC4 KM 
of action, either true or false, he has led his author 
into a labyrinth of contradiction, out of which no 
imaginable disposition of the scene can extri. 
him. 

Thus, when he supposes that the Greeks had not 
passed the river before the beginning f the sixth 
book, it is a necessary consequence of such a sup 
position, that they were, till then, at some miles dis- 
tance from Troy. But this is inconsistent with that 
beautiful digression ofthe third book, where Priam 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 63 

and Helen see the Grecian leaders so distinctly 
from the walls of that city, as to distinguish the per- 
sons and figures of the leaders from the walls of 
Troy. 

In short, this map would not deserve the few 
lines, which we bestow upon it, were it not for the 
respectable name of Pope, who, no doubt, trusted 
this inferior part of his work to unskilful or negligent 
hands. I was at a loss to account for so much ob- 
vious inaccuracy, collected into so small a compass, 
till I discovered, besides the mistakes of the draughts- 
man, a certain method and regularity of error, which 
could belong to the engraver alone, who, by a piece 
of negligence, not less unpardonable in the artist 
than fatal to geography and Homer, has given a 
map, which reverses the drawing from which it was 
engraved, and of course changes the respective si- 
tuation of all the parts, from right to left, and from 
left to right ; so that the Sigeiim stands where the 
Rhceteum should be, and the Scamander runs on 
that side of Troy which belongs to the Simois. 

How so material an oversight should have re- 
mained hitherto unnoticed, or how Mr. Pope could 
contrive to explain his own reversed map; 1 is not to 
our present purpose. To say more on this head, is 
needless; to have said thus much, on the only chart 
which has hitherto attempted to illustrate the prin- 
cipal scene of the action of the Iliad, was unavoid- 
able. 

It has been already observed, that while places 
distant from Ionia are marked more distinctly, as 
objects of curiosity, the same attention has not been 
paid to those in the Poet's neighbourhood. Though 
we find him thoroughly acquainted with the scenery 
round Troy, these objects are introduced less upon 
<* See Pope's Letters with regard to this map. 



(34 ON THE ORIGINAL 

their own account, than as circumstances connected 
with the action. This I take to be a principal rea- 
son, why the correctness of his map of the Troade, 
opening thus gradually with the story, has hitherto 
escaped particular observation ; and has been taken 
for granted, upon slight examination. It is scarce 
to be expected, that a translator of Mr. Pope's 
taste could, in the midst of the poetical beauties of 
the Iliad, submit to a dull patient attention to its 
mere topographical accuracy/ 

r Mr. Pope was assisted in this part of his work by Mr. Broom, 
who supplied most of the notes collected from former Expositors 
of Homer, to which he added some observations of his own. Mr. 
Pope adopted the whole, and under his daily revisal every sheet 
was corrected. If Mr. Broom really went through the voluminous 
Commentaries of Eustathius, as is hinted in the introduction to the 
notes, he must have done it very superficially ; and has added very 
little to what had been so judiciously done by Madame Dacier, 
at the same time not acknowledging how much he was indebted to 
that very learned lady. As to Eustathius, not to repeat what has 
been so often said in favour of that treasure of Greek learning, from 
which almost every later illustration of Homer has been gleaned, I 
shall only observe my disappointment in finding so little in him for 
my particular purpose. Though a Bishop, and one who is said to 
have written in defence of the church, he makes no use of the 
Scriptures in his Commentaries. I take it for granted, that he did 
not understand Latin, or at least that he had not read Virsil ; as 
he makes no use of him. Though an inhabitant of Greece, he 
trusts for Homer's geography to Strabo, without any additional ob- 
servations of his own in respect to places in his very neighbour- 
hood. Nor do I find that he visited Troy, though he lived so m ar 
it: nor does he remark the changes, or agreement between either 
the lauguage or manners of Homer, and those of his own age, which 
we should naturally expect from one so well qualified and situ- 
ated for forming a judgment of both. Wheu I add to all this, that 
his Commentaries, in my opinion, contain the dullest and most iu- 
sipid, as well as the most ingenious and judicious remarks on 
Homer, I cannot help suspecting, that he was rather the compiler 
than the author of those criticisms; and that his principal merit 
is that of having preserved from oblivion some curious ozona- 
tions of writers, whose works have perished since his time. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 65 

But I shall not trouble the reader farther on this 
head, it being ray object, not to condemn the trans- 
lation, but to justify the original; where we do not 
discover, even in the boldest flights of fancy, that 
careless contradiction of circumstances, which his- 
tory, poetry, and romance equally disclaim. 

But in vain do we attempt to support Homer's 
character as a geographer, unless we can rescue 
him from some severe imputations of inaccuracy 
on this head, which have gained too much credit 
by remaining so long unanswered. The accusation 
of this sort, which seems to have made the greatest 
impression, relates to the distance he places the isle 
of Pharos from Egypt. It is incumbent on me to 
attempt the Poet's vindication against a charge, 
which has so materially affected his geographical 
reputation, that he has, in this instance, been aban- 
doned even by some of his best friends. 



DESCRIPTION OF PHAROS AND 
ALEXANDRIA. 

The lines which have given occasion to so much 
censure, are those in the fourth book of the Odyssey, 
where Menelaus, relating to Telemachus his adven- 
tures, describes Pharos as situated a day's sail from 
Egypt. 5 Those who saw that this island was not 

S N»J<70£ £7T£irtt TIQ EffTt TToXvKXvffTU EVL TTOVTto 

AiyvnTOv 7rpo7rapoi0e, 4>apoy Be t KiKXtjaKovai, 

'Yoaaov avevd\ baaov re iravtjfiepit] yXcupvprj vtjvc 

Hvvaer, y Xiyvg ovpoQ ETnirvti^aiv o-mrrdev. — On. iv. 354. 

" High o'er a gulfy sea, the Pharian isle 
Fronts the deep roar of disemboguing Nile: 
K 



G6 ON THE ORIGINAL 

eight stadia, or an English mile from Alexandria, 
made strong objections to the accuracy of this de- 
scription. His friends could not help acknowledg- 
ing that the distance at which be seemed to place 
that island from the continent did not correspond 
with the apparent state of things in their time; but 
some of his admirers discovered, in this want of 
correspondence, a new proof of his extensive ob- 
servation and exactness. Homer, say they, was well 
acquainted with the constant accession of land to 
the Delta, by means of the Nile, which must have 
gradually shortened the distance of Pharos from 
Egypt ;* and he made allowance for the effects of 
this operation, from the time of Menelaus, with a 
view to accommodate his description to the period 
of the Trojan war. u 

Such was the state of this dispute in the times of 
the Ptolemies and Csesars. With how little advan- 
tage, either to the Poet or his readers, it has been 
since carried on, may be seen in the annexed note. 1 



Her distance from the shore, the course begun 
At dawn, and ending with the setting sun, 
A galley measures ; when the stiffer gales 
Rise on the poop, and fully stretch the sails.'' 

* The word Aiyv7rroc in Homer always relates to the Nile. 

u JZvtevBev de (airo KavwfiiKov orojuarog) em fyapor ri]v yjjaov aXAoi 
eraSioi <KEVTt)KovTa irpoQTOLQ eKarov. — Strabo. 1. 17. p. 1140. 

x " iEgyptum plerique volunt Nili fluminis invectu paulatim esse 
aggestam. Proinde illam Ephorus appellat Trora^o^worov ; Hero- 
dotus ETriiCTT)TOv yrjy, et Swpov tov iro-afxov; Philosophus row Trorapov 
epyov: atque ex eo ipso iEthiopes sese iEgyptiis antiquiores esse 
probabant, quod cum iEgyptus olim fuisset mare, tandem rov 
NeiXov Kara rag avufiaatig tk\v ek ti)q AiBiOTriag t\vv KarafEpovroe, 
Nilo per excessus suos limum ex ^Ethiopia afferente, facta esset 
terra continens. Cui rei probanda; multa afferunt. Primo quoties 
Nilus exundat limi alluvionibus, cedere pelagus, et removeri non- 
mhil. 2. In iEgypti montibus conchylia reperiri. 3. Puteos et 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 67 

It is not from books, but from the face of the coun- 
tries which Homer describes, that I can hope to do 



fontes, quotquot sunt, salsam habere et amaram aquam, ac si re- 
liquiae maris in iis subsederint. 4. Denique ad Pharum insulam, 
hodie solum septem stadiis, aut ad summum mille passibus, ab 
Alexandria disparatam, Homeri aevo noctis et diei cursu ab <<Egyp- 
to distasse ; ut idem testatur, Odyss. lib. iv. ver. 356. 

" Constat tamen iEgyptum semper in eodem fuisse situ. Nam, 
ut caetera taceam, Tanis iEgypti olim regia non procul a Tanitico 
Nili ostio jam extabat tempore Mosis, qui mirabilia fecit in terra 
JEgypti in campo Taneos, Psal. Ixxviii. 12. Quin autiquissima 
urbs Hebron, in qua decimus a Diluvio Abraam diu vixit, Gen. 
xiii. 18. et xxiii. 2. nonnisi septennio ante Tanim fuit condita, 
Num. xiii. 23. Itaque fabularis historia Isidis, et Ori, et Osiridis, 
qua nihil antiquius habeut iEgyptii, multorum meminit locorum in 
infima iEgypto; ut quae illo aevo jam extiterint. Sic in Plutarcho 
de Iside, Osiridem legas area inclusum in mare fuisse dejectum, 
Bia tov TaviriKou oro/xaroe, per Nili ostium Taniticum, et postmo- 
dum Busiride sepultum, aut, ut alii volunt, Taphosiride ; et Orum 
Buti educatum ; et Pelusium oppidum ab Iside conditura. Sed et 
Trojanis temporibus creditur Menelaus Canobum appulisse; unde 
Pharus aberat solum centum et viginti stadiis. Itaque falsissimum 
est quod ab Homero traditur, a Pharo in iEgyptum noctis et diei 
cursum fuisse, adeoque cursum navis: 

p \tyvg ovpog nrnriEiriOLV oinadey, 

stridens quam ventus pone sequatur. 



Navis enim integrum diem vento secundo procedens, eoque stri- 
dente et acri, iter emetitur decuplo longius, id est, pro centum et 
viginti stadiis stadia mille et ducenta. Id lectorem malo doceri 
Aristidis verbis in Oratione iEgyptiaca : Kavwfiog $apov aradiovg 
€tKO(TL Kai ekcitov aireyEi, KdiTOi vavg Trayrjfitpta deovaa, vir ayejxov 
Kara Trpvfivav ttveovtoq, 7rpoadr]cru) £e tcai Xtyeuyg, ovk eiKofft teat eKaruv 
OTaSiovQ avvfrei fiaXiarttf a\\' taiog jxaWov StaKoarwvg Kai ^iXiovg. 
Sed nee iEgypto quicquam ex Nili alluvionibus accedere concesse- 
rini. Id enim, quicquid est, facile dissipat continua maris agitatio. 
Proinde cum Alexandria stet ab annis fere bis mille, tamen semper 
est littorea, et quantum a Pharo distabat olim, tantum, hodi£que 
distat, nempe stadia septem, aut, ut alii, mille passus, Aristides 
ubi supra ; Kcuroi rrjg fiev rjireipov aireyii fyapog knra jiaXiffra ffradi- 
wg. Ammianus lib. xxii. Insula Pharos, ubi Protea cum Phoca- 

E 2 



m ON THE ORIGINAL 

him justice. Having, with that view, twice made 
this vovage of Menelaus, with the Odyssey in my 



rum 



gregibus diversatum Horaerus fabulatur inflatius, a civitatis 
littore mille passibus disparata."— Bochart. 

" Horaere ^toit trop savant en Geographie pour ne pas savoir 
que de son terns lisle du Phare n'etoit eloignee de I'embouchure de 
Conope que de six vingts stades, mais comme il avoit oui dire que 
le Nil, a force de trainer du sable et du liraon, avoit par succes- 
sion de terns beaucoup augmente le continent par ses alluvions, il 
a voulu faire croire qu'anciennement et du terns de Menelaus 
cette Isle etoit plus eloignee de la terre et plus avant dans la mer; 
il a meme tenement exagere cette distance qu'il a dit qu'elle etoit 
tout ce que pouvoit faire de chemin en un jour un vaisseau et par 
un bon vent, c'est a dire, qu'il la fait dix ou douze fois plus 
grande qu'elle n'est; car un vaisseau peut faire en un jour et une 
nuit quatorze ou quinze cens stades quand il a le vent bon. Ho- 
mere, pour rendre sa narration plus merveilleuse, a done deguis£ 
la verite, en s'accoramodant a ce qu'il avoit oui dire des embou- 
chures du Nil et de ses alluvions. Jamais cette Isle n'a ete plus 
eloignee du continent qu'elle Test aujourd'hui, et en voici une 
preuve bien certaine, c'est que sielle eut ete eloignee du continent 
de quatorze cens stades du terns de Menelaus, et qu'en deux cens 
cinquante ou soixante ans qu'il y a du terns de Menelaus au terns 
d'Homere, elle s'en fut rapprochee jusqu'a six-vingts, les alluvions 
auroient augmente le continent de douze cens quatre vingts stades 
dans cet espace de terns; et par cette raison, depuis Homere 
jusqu'a nous, le continent auroit ete si fort pousse, que cette Isle 
du Phare se trouveroit aujourd'hui bien eloignee de la mer. II 
n'est pas meme possible, comme l'a fort bien remarque Bochart, 
que le Nil ait jamais augmente le continent par ses alluvions, car 
l'agitation de la mer auroit toujours dissipe plus de sable et plus 
de limon que le fleuve tfauroit pft en apporter. Et le meme Bo- 
chart le prouve par un fait qui est sans replique. C'est que cette 
Isle du Phare n'est eloignee que de sept stades, ou huit cens soix- 
ante et quinze pas d'Alexandrie, qui est vis-a-vis sur le rivage de 
la mer a une embouchure duNil, et cette distance est aujourd'hui 
la meme qu'elle etoit il y a deux mille ans ; le Nil n'a pas aug- 
mente le continent d'un pouce. Ce n'est done point par ignorance 
qu'Homere a peche, mais il s'est accommode a un bruit commun, 
et il a beaucoup augmente cette distance, rov pvducevc ^o , pour 
la fable, comme dit Strabon dans son 1 Liv." Dacier. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 69 

hands, I was satisfied, that the Poet's account of 
its length and danger was agreeable to appearances, 
when he wrote ; and that this passage has been 
misunderstood, for want of due attention to the 

" This description of Pharos has given great trouble to the critics 
and geographers ; it is generally concluded, that the distance of 
Pharos is about seven stadia from Alexandria. Amraianus Marcel- 
linus mentions this very passage thus ; 1. 22. ' Insula Pharos, ubi 
Protea cum Phocarum gregibus diversatum Homerus fabulatur in- 
flatius, a civitatis littore mille passibus disparata,' or, about a mile 
distant from the shores. How then comes Homer to affirm it to 
be distant a full day's sail? Dacier answers, that Homer might 
have heard that the Nile, continually bringing down much earthy 
substance, had enlarged the continent: and knowing it not to be so 
distant in his time, took the liberty of a poet, and described it as 
still more distant in the days of Menelaus. But Dacier never sees 
a mistake in Homer. Had his poetry been worse if he had de- 
scribed the real distance of Pharos ? It is allowable in a poet to 
disguise the truth, to adorn his story; but what ornament has he 
given his poetry by this enlargement? Bochart has fully proved 
that there is no accession to the continent from any substance that 
the Nile brings down with it : the violent agitation of the seas pro- 
hibit it from lodging, and forming itself into solidity. Eratos- 
thenes is of opinion, that Homer was ignorant of the mouths of 
Nile : but Strabo answers, that his silence about them is not an 
argument of his ignorance, for neither has he ever mentioned where 
he was born. But Strabo does not enter fully into the meaning of 
Eratosthenes ; Eratosthenes does not mean that Homer was igno- 
rant of the mouths of Nile from his silence, but because he places 
Pharos at the distance of a whole day's sail from the continent. 
The only way to unite this inconsistence is to suppose, that the 
Poet intended to specify the Pelusiac mouth of the Nile, from 
which Pharos stands about a day's sail ; but this is submitted to 
the critics." — Pope. 

" The Greek historians have been all condemned by Bochart, a 
man of very great learning, for asserting, that the Lower Egypt was 
a plain made out by the continual congestion of the slime, which 
their wonderful river swept along in its course through ^Ethiopia 
and the high country. He has likewise chastised Homer, who 
favours that opinion, in his account of the distance of the Pharos 
from the land." — Inquiry into the Life and Writings of Homer. 



7() ON THE ORIGINAL 

changes which have happened, both in the situa- 
tions and names of places, in that part of the world, 
since the building of Alexandria. A proper con- 
sideration of this matter will perhaps shew, that a 
voyage from Pharos to Egypt, in the reign of Pro- 
teus, when Menelaus landed in Egypt, and in that 
of the Ptolemies, conveyed ideas of different courses 
and different distances. 

If proper attention had been paid to the Poet's 
words, I think that his meaning could not have 
been so much misrepresented ; for he expressly says, 
that the voyage, which Menelaus took so unwil- 
lingly, was from Pharos to the Nile; or, as he calls 
it, the river iEgyptus, Aiyvrrroq ; and not from 
Pharos to the land of Egypt. But as some com- 
mentators contend, that the word Aiyvirroq is em- 
ployed by the Poet to express the country, as well 
as the river of Egypt, it may be proper to shew, 
that the island of Pharos must have been at least 
thirty miles distant from any part of the land of 
Egypt in Homer's time : though when the Ptole- 
mies reigned, it certainly was not a mile from the 
capital of that country. 

Nor does the truth of this depend upon any 
change produced upon this coast by an accession 
made to the Delta. 

It does not give the most favourable opinion 
either of the taste or policy of the ancient Egyptian 
kings, that they should execute those stupendous, 
may I, without offence to other travellers, add, 
barbarous monuments of vanity, the pyramids; and 
yet leave it to the Greeks to bring the water of the 
Nile to Alexandria, and give Egypt the use of a 
commodious harbour. The natural consequences 
of supplying this spot with water, and, by these 
means, making it habitable, were of undoubted ad- 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 71 

vantage to the trade and riches, which centred 
here: and Alexandria, being the great channel and 
principal mart for Indian commodities, became 
soon the most populous and magnificent city then 
known. It seems not to have occurred to the Greek 
or Roman writers, who are full of encomiums on the 
splendour of this new capital, that the ground upon 
which it stood was, not long before, too insignificant 
to deserve a boundary, or to be claimed by any 
country. Yet such was the state of this coast in 
Homer's days. It made no part of Egypt at that 
time, when the extent of the inundation of the Nile 
marked the natural limits of that country. That 
its connexion with this spot was the work of a 
more commercial age, is obvious to every traveller, 
who views that canal at this day ; and observes, 
that the present inhabitants of Alexandria subsist 
entirely upon the supply of water which it continues 
to convey once a year from the Nile to the ancient 
reservoirs, which still subsist to that city ; and they 
are totally separated from the cultivated soil of 
Egypt by a barren desert, through which the road 
to Rosetta is marked out by a range of posts, 
fixed in the sand for that purpose. 

Having thus added near thirty miles to the voy- 
age of Menelaus by considering the barren coasts, 
where Alexandria was afterward built, in the light, 
that it must no doubt have appeared to him; let us 
see, how much nearer we can bring it to the Poet's 
description, by inquiring into the increase of that 
lower part of Egypt in so long a time. 

The accession made to the Delta by the mud, 
which the Nile deposits in the sea, is so evident a 
matter of fact, that it could not escape the observa- 
tion of those who have seen and considered that 
country with the least degree of attention ; nor 



72 ON THE ORIGINAL 

should I take up a moment of the reader's time, to 
prove what has had the uniform testimony of tra- 
vellers for so many ages, had not the learned Bo- 
chart taken it into his head to deny, that any such 
accession is made to this coast, and had not Mr. 
Pope, Madame Dacier, and many others, implicitly 
subscribed to that opinion. 

We shall find that this error (with others into 
which it has led the commentators on this passage) 
arose from an indiscriminate application of some 
observations to the whole coast of Egypt, which 
are true only with regard to one part of it; and from 
confounding appearances on the coast of Delta with 
those on that of Alexandria, which are totally dis- 
similar. For the coast of Alexandria is so far from 
being sensible of any accession by means of the 
Nile, that the sea encroaches upon some parts of it, 
in spite of all the care which has been, and is still 
taken to keep it out. I have seen the inhabitants 
much alarmed at the danger of its breaking into 
their reservoirs of fresh water; which they have 
been at considerable expense to prevent. For 
should either the ancient cisterns of that city, which 
remain yet sufficiently entire, or the canal, which still 
continues, as regularly as the Nile overflows, to 
convey to them their annual and only supply of 
fresh water, by any accident fail, this spot must be 
abandoned, and would again become no more a part 
of Egypt, than it was in the time of Homer or Mene- 
laus. 

But the very reverse of this is so certain with 
regard to the sea-coast of Delta, that I will venture 
to say, it is obvious to the slightest observation on 
the spot: nor has it been denied by any traveller, 
that I know, from Herodotus to the present tin 
It is impossible to look down upon this singular 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 73 

country from the top of the great pyramid, and view 
this narrow stripe of the most luxuriant vegetation 
imaginable, hemmed in on each side by the exten- 
sive parched deserts of Lybia and Arabia ; but so 
accurately divided from them, that the extremes of 
sterility and fertility unite without intermixing, and, 
though contiguous, are so distinct, that a line pa- 
rallel to the course of the river separates the richest 
verdure from the most barren sand : I say, it is im- 
possible to view this striking contrast, without in- 
clining to the old opinion, that Egypt is the gift of 
the Nile. 

A more particular examination of this matter puts 
it out of dispute : the soil is evidently the same with 
the mud brought down by the Nile, and entirely 
different from the native sand of this country ; it 
extends on each side as far as the Nile overflows, 
and no farther; its perpendicular depth from the 
surface diminishes in proportion to its distance from 
the river; nor is its lateral encroachment upon the 
Arabian and Lybian deserts more evident, than its 
gaining upon the sea, as the following facts shew. 
Those, who sail for the coast of Delta, get into the 
discoloured water of the Nile, before they see land : 
and by heaving the lead they find the bottom co- 
vered with its mud, which subsides, and acquires 
consistence, notwithstanding the agitation of the 
sea. We find, that since the Holy War, and even 
since the Venetians established themselves here, and 
by these means acquired a monopoly of the Indian 
trade, before the discovery of the Cape of Good 
Hope, places, which were on the sea-side, are now 
at some distance from it within land. 

But this increase of the Delta must have been pro- 
portionably more sensible, as we go back to the 
time when the island was formed. For Lower 



74 ON THE ORIGINAL 

Egypt was a deep bay, sheltered by two promon- 
tories, the mud brought down by the Nile must have 
been less dissipated by the agitation of the sea, and 
must of course have occasioned a quicker accession 
of land to the Delta, than could be produced since 
it has been more exposed. We may therefore con- 
clude, that in the course of time, this operation of 
the Nile will be more and more retarded, till, after 
a certain projection of the Delta beyond the pro- 
montories, it must entirely cease. Those who sail 
upon the coast discover separate sand hills, formerly 
islands, but now included in the Delta. Such a 
barrier at the mouth of the bay must have contri- 
buted greatly to the accumulation of that mud, of 
which the Delta is formed. And if, independently 
of every other consideration, we attend to the trian- 
gular form of the country, and the manner of its 
increase, it is plain, that the progress of that incre- 
ment must become slower, as its base, or north side, 
grows wider ; and that the same quantity of mud, or 
slime, which has produced a considerable accession 
in the last live or six hundred years, must have had 
a greater effect in the same time, in proportion as 
the base was narrower. 

Upon the whole of this reasoning, it must ap- 
pear doubtful, whether any part of Lower Egypt 
existed in the Poet's time; which seems to have 
been the opinion of y Aristotle : but, supposing the 
south angle of Delta to have been then formed, 
its distance from Pharos would make above fifty 
leagues, which may be called a day's sail, 2 agree- 
ably to the general proportion, which Homer 

y Aristot. Metaph. I. i. c . 4. 
^SeeStrabo,! ip. 61 . andinAbulfeda A , 
tard, p. 8. a hundred Arabian miles. 
See Herodotus, I. 4. c. 86. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 75 

observes between time and distance in his naviga- 
tion. 

Having so far endeavoured to vindicate the Poet, 
as to the length of this voyage, it may not be im- 
proper, while this subject is before us, to say some- 
thing of its difficulty and danger, which Menelaus 
mentions with much dread and anxiety. As some 
account of the navigation of this coast will furnish 
the best comment on this part of the Poet's descrip- 
tion, I shall lay before the reader a narrative of what 
fell within my own observation, relatively to this 
matter. 

I sailed, in the morning of the fifth of February, 
1743, iu a French ship, from Latichea in Syria, for 
Damiata in Egypt. We lost sight of Mount Liba- 
nus, the highest land on the Syrian coast, that even- 
ing, and had a fair view of Cyprus next morning. 
We got into soundings on the coast of Egypt towards 
the evening on the third day, and found a slimy 
bottom, at some distance from the Bogas. This is 
the name by which the Arabs call the mouth of the 
river, where there is a bar or ridge of sand, which 
changes its form and size, and. shifts its position, 
according to the wind. 

Here the sea began to be discoloured with the 
water of the Nile, and, in another league, as I looked 
from the round-top of the mainmast, the fresh water 
appeared like an immense muddy pond, as distinct 
in colour from the sea as the Soane is from the 
Rhone immediately after the junction of those rivers 
below Lyons. And it extended circularly near three 

The cursus iravr^iEpioq, 1200 stadia. Aristidis Oratio ^igyptiaca. 
Theophilus in Ptolemy. Geog. 1. i. c. 9. makes it 1000 stadia. 

Herodotus alludes to the w^r]fj.£pov ; and supposes a ship to 
sail eighty miles by day, and seventy by night. See Wesseling's 
notes upon Herodotus, 1. iv. c. 86. 



76 ON THE ORIGINAL 

leagues outwards from the mouth of the >'ile. The 
river was, at this season, within its banks ; but I 
was told, that the semicircle of fresh water is much 
more extended, when the Nile overflows Egypt, and 
that its mixture with the sea is discoverable fifteen 
or even twenty leagues from shore. I should think 
that this account was exaggerated by seamen. The 
first objects, that we saw towards the shore, were 
the ships at anchor in the road of Damiata. We 
next got sight of the tops of some palm trees; and 
soon after of some buildings. Last of all we dis- 
covered the low flat land of Egypt. 

Such are the present appearances; and such in 
general, are those which may be collected from 
Herodotus. His remarks on the face of this coun- 
try seem to entitle him to more credit than he has 
met with, when he speaks from his own knowledge, 
and as an eye-witness. 

There being no port on the coast of the Deli 
ships bound for Rosetta or Damiata anchor in an 
open road, till their business is done; exposed to 
much danger, when the wind blows hard upon that 
harbourless shore. They are therefore ready to 
shp their cables, and run to sea for security, upon 
the first appearance of foul weather. 

We had scarce let go our anchor, in company 
with a Ragusean bound to the same port, when it 
began to thunder and lighten; and the wind sud- 
denly shifting to the north-west, blew hard. Nigh! 
approaching, our pressing object was to -et off the 
coast, upon which there is no harbour from Alex- 
andria to Mount Carmel. After three davs blow- 
ing weather, we made Cyprus., and got 'into Li- 
misso, where we were detained three weeks by con- 
trary winds We sailed again for Egypt the thirtieth, 
and in two days arrived upon the coast of the Delta 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 77 

After the same succession of appearances similar 
to those already described, we got to our anchoring 
ground, before the Bogas, in doubtful weather. Here 
a germe (which is a very strong-built boat of this 
country, entirely calculated to resist the Bogas), 
tempted by a reward which custom has established 
for the first boat, that ventures over upon such occa- 
sions, soon boarded us. By this time, things wore 
so gloomy an aspect, that our captain was prepar- 
ing, in all haste to run to sea. To share his fate, or 
risk the Bogas, was a point that called for imme- 
diate decision : for neither the germe, or our vessel, 
could stay a moment. I chose the latter. It is 
not easy to imagine any thing more awful than the 
approach to this Bogas in stormy weather. The 
breakers, which were heard and seen at some dis- 
tance, had now the appearance of a succession of 
cascades, which we were to pass through for half a 
mile. If the most striking and expressive resem- 
blance of a picture to that appearance in Nature, 
which it attempts to represent, is a sufficient proof 
of the painter's having seen the original, we might 
conclude, from three a lines in the Iliad, that Homer 
had been in Egypt, and passed this Bogas. One 
of our boatmen got up to the mast-head ; and as 
his voice could not be heard, he directed our course 
by repeating signals, which he received from a boat 

a ' ilg J* ot £7ri 7rpo\otjai Sutteteoq norafjioto 

BfjSpi/^ev fJiEya KVfia iron poov. AjjlQi ie r aKpai 

Hioveg BOOH2IN, epevyofjiEvrjc d\og e'£,o). 

Toaatj apa Tpwiov ta^rj ytver.' II. P. v. 265. 

These lines are said to have determined Solon and Plato to 
abandon poetry, despairing of ever being able to produce any thing 
like them. To those who admire the art of making the sound an 
echo to the sense, they certainly offer beauties, which are beyond 
all translation. 



78 ON THE ORIGINAL 

within the Bogas, stationed there to pilot germes, in 
blowing weather, through the breakers on the bar. 
We struck thrice before we got into smooth water; 
and had the mortification to pass the wreck of our 
unfortunate Ragusean fellow-traveller, who had not 
been able to get off the coast, and perished with his 
crew upon this bar. 

There is a proverbial expression used by the 
Arab sailors, and adopted by the Franks, who fre- 
quent those seas, that " he, who fears not the Bo- 
gas, fears not the devil." Indeed the present state 
of this coast seems to justify the extreme reluctance, 
which Menelaus expresses at undertaking this voy- 
age a second time; especially if we consider the 
greater distance he had to run, in his own ships, 
without boats calculated for the Bogas, or seamen 
experienced in that navigation. We may add, that 
the coast of Egypt, which now projects so far, 
formed a deep bay in his time, which must have 
added to the danger, as it was more difficult then 
for a ship to disengage itself from the land. 

I flatter myself, that this account of the ancient 
and present state of the coast of Egypt may justify 
Homer's account of the length and danger of Mene- 
laus's voyage ; and vindicate him from the charge 
of ignorance on this head, under which he has so 
long laboured. 



HOMERS 
RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY 

We cannot well take into consideration Homer's 
Religion and Mythology, without some notice of his 
Allegory, which has opened so large a field for 
ancient and modern speculation. It would be 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 79 

needless to enter into the extravagant fancies and 
laboured conjectures, by which the sense of the 
plainest passages in the Iliad and Odyssey has been 
sacrificed to this allegorizing humour. Nothing- 
can be more contrary to our idea of the character 
of his writings, and to that unbiassed attention to 
the simple forms of Nature, which we admire as 
his distinguishing excellence. I do not indeed 
think that those, who read him with true relish, and 
not from affectation, run any risk of falling into 
such refinement. However, as great pains have 
been taken to trace the mysterious knowledge, 
which the Poet is supposed to conceal under this 
dark allegorical veil, up to his Egyptian education ; 
and as a late ingenious writer b has attempted to 
shew the extensive effects of the Poet's travelling 
from a country, where Nature governed, to one of 
settled rules and a digested polity, it may be worth 
while to take the best view, we can, of the state of 
learning in Greece and Egypt in Homer's time, in 
order to see, what foundation there is for this opinion. 

Referring the reader, for the state of Homer's 
learning, to a particular section on that head, I shall 
now lay before him my reasons for thinking, that 
the high compliments, which have been so long 
paid to the knowledge and wisdom of the ancient 
Egyptians, have not been so well founded as is ge- 
nerally imagined ; and I shall draw those reasons 
from the only sources, which can furnish evidence of 
this matter; viz. first, the monuments which they 
have left of their taste and genius ; secondly, the 
accounts, which other nations have given of them 
in these respects. 

It would be difficult to form a judgment of their 

b See Inquiry into the Life and Writings of Homer. 



80 ON THE ORIGINAL 

literary merit, without a specimen of their perform- 
ance in that way : and I do not find that antiquity 
has transmitted to us even their pretensions to ex- 
cellence in composition. I must observe, that, 
though Egypt produced the papyrus, its use to 
letters was a Greek discovery. Their hieroglyphics, 
indeed, have been long admired as the repository of 
much wisdom and knowledge ; though there seems 
great reason to think, that they were the production 
of an infant state of society, not yet acquainted with 
alphabetical writing. And they have been pre- 
served by means of circumstances, which were pe- 
culiar to Egypt. For this country had the driest 
atmosphere, and the most durable materials. Hence 
these memorials have been preserved, while monu- 
ments of the same early stage of knowledge have 
perished in other countries. 

Architecture, sculpture, and painting, seem to 
owe little to Egypt. If the temple of Theseus stands 
to this day at Athens an undoubted proof of the 
great perfection of Greek arts, as early as the battle 
of Marathon : in a climate so favourable to build i 
as that of Egypt, where there are still considerable 
remains to be seen of pyramids of such perishable 
materials as unburnt bricks, some fragments surely 
would have been preserved to justify their preten- 
sions. But though we are apt to trace every thing 
back to Egypt, I believe, in those arts the Greeks 
are entirely original, and took their ideas from Nature 
alone: and it appears in sculpture, that the Egyp- 
tians stuck to their own stiff dry manner, even after 
they were acquainted with the perfect models of the 
Greek artists. 

Egypt has, no doubt, produced the most stu- 

1 See divine legation of Moses. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 81 

pendous and amazing, but I must add, the most 
absurd and unmeaning public works, to be seen in 
any country : I mean pyramids, obelisks, labyrinths, 
artificial lakes, which are without art, elegance, or 
public utility. Though jealous of strangers, they 
took little pains to fortify their frontier : and seem 
to have placed their security more in hiding, than 
defending, themselves. And though well situated 
for commerce, they neglected a good harbour, of 
which the Greeks shewed the value and importance, 
as soon as they got possession of this country. 

When the Greeks first applied to the study of Na- 
ture, and travelled to Egypt (supposed to have been 
then the school of science) for instruction, we might 
reasonably expect some favourable accounts of them. 
But, besides, that what we are told of these early 
travellers is obscure, and suspicious, all we can 
collect from them does not raise our ideas of Egyp- 
tian knowledge. If Pythagoras sacrificed a heca- 
tomb upon finding out the 47th proposition of the 
first book of Euclid, and Thales an ox on having 
discovered how to inscribe a rectangled triangle in 
a circle, after they had studied mathematics in 
Egypt, the parent of geometry, what opinion does it 
give us of the knowledge of their masters in that 
science ? d The obscure account we have of their 
scheme of joining the Nile and the Red Sea, e looks, 

d Eustathius formed his system of Greek chronology without ap- 
plying to Egypt, the seat of learning, whence it came. 

e To whatever degree of perfection and use this work might have 
been carried by the Persians, Greeks, Romans, or Mahometans, 
for something is attributed to them all, we have the best authority 
to believe that neither Sesostris nor Necos could carry it into exe- 
cution, though the first was so powerful, and the latter was a great 
promoter of the Egyptian marine ; and had built ports and havens 
in the Mediterranean and Red Sea ; the remains of which existed 
in the time of Herodotus. 

F 



82 ON THE ORIGINAL 

. if thev did Dot understood how to take a level. 



cardinal points ot the compd-=>, 
decree of mathematics does that require f and >u. > 
Thales having shewn them how to measure *• 
heights of those pyramids by their shadow, , 
proof of their little progress in JW^fJ-. . . 
Bat let as proceed to a third period o then bit 
tory, from which we might expect .o d,:,v 
thingto form *iudgm«utofthe.r arte and 8C.«^ 
When the Greeks conquered Phoenicia, ( balds 
and Egvpt, their taste, and of coarse tin ir « 
was at the highest. Whatever accounts that eh-gant 
and learned people may have given ot the school 
from whence they are supposed to have ., o i« d 
the rudiments of all their knowledge: I can hod 
very little said of the learning or art- ot Eg] I" . «*■ 
cept what they brought there themselves. Homer 
was studied with more critical attention in Egypt 
than in any other country, but it was by Gre. k$; 
nor do we find that Zenodotus or Aristarchus, < 
took so much pains in settling the true reading! 
his works, under the Ptolemies, drew any illustra- 
tions of their author from the productions of the 
country in which they wrote. Those learned 
tors superintended the greatest and choicest library, 
that had ever been seen, of which Aristotle's valua- 
ble collection made a part ; yet they have told us 
nothing of the writers of that country in which it 
was collected, nor do we find that they left any 
translations into the Greek, except that of the Bible. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 83 

If our inquiries into this period are unsuccessful, 
we cannot expect much after this country became a 
Roman province. Strabo, who, with good taste 
and a sound judgment, was a traveller of curiosity, 
and a great admirer of antiquity, had a favourable 
opportunity from his friendship with iElius Gall us, 
whom he accompanied as far as Syene and the 
^Ethiopian borders, of knowing what could be learn- 
ed of this country at that time ; but his accounts 
furnish nothing to induce us to change our senti- 
ments on this head. 

For these reasons I am of opinion, that Egypt, 
though civilized, when Greece was in a state of bar- 
barity, never got beyond mediocrity., either in the 
arts of peace or war. Nor shall we find this out of 
the order of things, if we consider the different na- 
ture of those countries. The singular advantage of 
Egypt, was, a climate so temperate, that little cloth- 
ing was necessary; and a soil so fertile, that it yield- 
ed food with very little labour. And its situation 
in the tract of the East India trade will account for 
its riches. But these circumstances, to which it 
owes antiquity, population, and wealth, are not fa- 
vourable to genius. Great efforts and happy exer- 
tions, either of mind or body, are not to be expected 
in a country where Nature has so well provided >''■ 
against hunger and cold ; and where a universal 
sameness of soil, and a constant serenity of sky, af- 
ford nothing to awake the fancy or rouse the pas- 
sions. Compare this with the landscape of Greece, 
the varieties of her soil, and the vicissitude of her 
seasons; and we shall not think it extraordinary, 
that the arts of life should begin in one of those coun- 
tries, and be carried to perfection in the other. 

Having said thus much of the supposed nurse of 
that mysterious learning, which the Poet is said to 

f 2 



84 ON THE ORIGINAL 

have brought from Egypt, and wrapped up in alle- 
gory ; let us bring the reader back to his true cha- 
racter as a Painter, and see if we cannot find marks 
of imitation even in his Religion and Mythology. I 
believe that a comparative view of the divine truths 
of his Theology, and the ingenious fictions of his 
Mythology, will shew, that, as far as he was at li- 
berty, he drew both systems from an accurate and 
comprehensive observation of Nature, under the 
direction of a fine imagination, and a sound under- 
standing. 

As to his Religion, it would be idle, indeed unfair, 
to introduce a few general observations, which I 
shall offer on this head, by common-place exclama- 
tions, against the gross extravagances of the heathen 
creed. For though we must acknowledge, that the 
general conduct of Homer's gods would even dis- 
grace humanity ; yet, when we consider the pure 
and sublime notions of the Divine Nature, which so 
frequently occur in his writings, it is but justice to 
such exalted sentiments of the Supreme Being, to 
pronounce them incompatible with the belief of those 
ridiculous absurdities, which distinguish the opi- 
nions of the multitude from those of the Poet. 

He believed the unity, supremacy, omnipotence, 
and omniscience of the Divine Nature, Creator/and 
Disposer of all things : his power, wisdom, justice, 
mercy, and truth, are inculcated in various parts of 
the Ihad and Odyssey : the immortality of the soul, 
a future state, rewards and punishments, and most 
of the principles of sound divinity, are to be found 
in his writings. 

This looks much less like the religion of mystery, 
than of common sense; and those sublime but evi- 
dent truths want not the illustrations of deep learn- 
ing. Ihey are obvious to the plain understanding 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 85 

of every thinking man, who looking abroad and con- 
sulting his own breast, as Homer did, compares 
what he sees with what he feels, and from the whole 
draws fair conclusions. 

Even his Mythology, considered with a view to 
his original character, will discover, if I be not mis- 
taken, some original strokes of the Painter and of 
his country. It seems to constitute a very distin- 
guishing difference between true and false religion ; 
that while the evidence of the first is universal, of 
every country, and coextensive with creation, the 
origin of the latter may be often traced to the local 
prejudices of a particular soil and climate. Star 
worship was the native idolatry of a serene sky and 
desert plains, where the beauties of the heavens are 
as striking as the rest of the external face of Nature 
is dreary and lifeless. In vain should we look for 
Naiades, Dryades, Oriades, &c. among the divinities 
of a country, without springs, rivers, trees, or moun- 
tains, and almost without vegetation. These were 
the natural acquisitions of superstition in her more 
northern progress. 

What share Homer had in dressing up and mo- 
delling the fables of the heathen gods, can, at this 
time, be little more than matter of mere conjecture; 
it would however be unreasonable to think, that they 
were of his own creation. 1 should rather suppose, 
that the liberties of poetical embellishment, which 
he may have taken with the popular creed of his 
time, were strongly engrafted upon vulgar tradi- 
tional superstitions, which had already laid strong 
hold of the passions and prejudices of his country- 
men ; an advantage, which so perfect a judge of 
human nature would be very cautious of forfeiting. 
For when the religion of poetry and that of the peo- 
ple were the same, any attempt of sudden innovation 



36 ON THE ORIGINAL 

in such an establishment would have been a hazard- 
ous experiment, which neither a good citizen nor a 
good poet would care to undertake. I shall there- 
fore venture to conclude, that the part of the Poet's 
fiction, which dishonours his deities with the weak- 
ness and passions of human nature, was founded in 
popular legends and vulgar opinion, for which every 
good poet, from Homer to Shakspeare, has thought 
proper to have great complaisance. Take from that 
original genius of our own country the popular be- 
lief in his ghosts and hobgoblins, his light fairies and 
his dapper elves, with other fanciful personages of 
the Gothic mythology; and you sap the true foun- 
dation of some of the most beautiful fictions, that 
ever poet's imagination produced. That Homer 
carried this too far, and studying to please neglected 
to instruct, may be very true ; for though Plato's se- 
verity on this head has been criticised, we must find 
it extremely becoming his zeal for the inseparable 
interests of religion and virtue, if we consider that 
he had weighty reasons, which do not reach Shakr 
speare's mythology, to be alarmed at examples of 
vice and immorality in the very persons, who wuv 
at that time the acknowledged objects of public re- 
ligious worship. 

Though the persons, and perhaps some part of the 
action, of his fable, might have been originally taken 
from Egypt and the East: yet we know that his 
figures, I may say portraits, were his own ; and the 
scenery of his Mythology is Grecian. And (what 
strengthens our conjectures' with regard to his 
country) of the various perspectives, into which 
we may attempt to reduce this Greek uytholog 
scenery, the Ionian point of view will appear pre- 
dominant. 

I fear, I may appear prejudiced to m> subj< ct, it 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 87 

I look for Nature in this imaginary province, and 
expect a regard for truth even in the Poet's fable. 
Yet I cannot help thinking, that, where his persons 
are most ideal, his scene is not less real ; and that 
when his subject carries him beyond life, and his 
divine agents, or (in the language of criticism) his 
machinery is introduced, the action is carried on 
with greater powers, no doubt, and upon a larger 
scale ; but with the same attention to a just propor- 
tion, and generally in the same subordination to the 
invariable laws of time and place. This is a ma- 
nagement, which, though it cannot entirely command 
assent, softens extravagance, and leads the reader 
so insensibly to fancy reality in fiction, by rendering 
both conformable to the same general rules of pos- 
sibility and consistence, that it is not easy to say, 
where the historian ends, or the poet begins. 

And yet I despair of giving satisfaction on this 
head, within the compass, which I have prescribed 
to myself: for though the important and frequent 
use of the machinery, in contributing so largely to a 
spirited succession of interesting variety, and espe- 
cially in relieving the eye from too much of the Sca- 
mandrian plain, must be obvious to every attentive 
reader; yet the easy transition, by which this is ef- 
fected, can only be discovered by a nicer examina- 
tion of those classical regions, which gave birth, or 
at least gave system and maturity, to his fable. If 
we form to ourselves a just idea of the respective 
situation, distance, and perspective, of Olympus, 
Ida, the Grecian camp, &c. we shall find Homer's 
celestial geography (if I may so call it) so happily 
connected with his map of Troy, that the scene is 
shifted from one to the other naturally, and with a 
certain mixture of circumstantial truths, which ope- 
rates unobserved, and throws at least an air of pos- 



88 ON THE ORIGINAL 

sibility into the wildest excursions of fancy. I shall 
explain myself by example. 

Jupiter, seated on Mount Gargara, the summit of 
Ida, not suspecting, that any of the gods would vio- 
late the neutrality he had so strictly enjoined, turns 
his eyes from the slaughter upon the Scamandrian 
plain to the peaceful scenes of Thrace and Mysia. 
But Neptune, anxious for the distressed Greeks, had 
placed himself on the top of Samothrace, which 
commands a prospect of Ida, Troy, and the fleet. 
Having from hence observed Jupiter turn his back 
upon the scene of action, he resolves to seize that 
opportunity of annoying the Trojans. With this 
view he goes home to Aegos for his armour, and 
proceeds thence to the field of battle, putting up bis 
chariot and horses between Imbros and Tenedos; 
At the same time Juno, not less interested in the 
Grecian cause, discovers from Olympus, what is 
passing at the ships. And watching the motions of 
Jupiter and Neptune, she forms her plan according- 
ly for rendering the operations of the latter effectual, 
by keeping Jupiter's attention diverted another way. 
Having with this view procured the cestus or girdle 
of Venus, she proceeds, first to Lemnos, to solicit 
the aid of the god of Sleep, and thence to Jupiter on 
Gargara. 

I doubt much, whether any reader has ever sus- 
pected, that this fanciful piece of machinery is so 
strictly geographical, that we cannot enter into the 
boldness and true spirit of the Poets conceptions 
upon this occasion, without a map. But if he exa- 
mines it in that light, he will be pleased to find, that 
a view of the land and water here described, under a 
certain perspective, clears up the action, and con- 
verts what may otherwise appear crowded and con- 
tused, into distinct and pleasing variety. He will 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 89 

then see, that the mere change of Jupiter's position, 
while it introduces a most beautiful contrast between 
scenes of innocence and tranquillity, and those of 
devastation and bloodsd,is essenhetial to the episode 
of Neptune and Juno. He will attend those Divini- 
ties with new pleasure, through every step of their 
progress. The mighty strides of the first, and the 
enchanting description of his voyage, long admired 
as one of the happiest efforts of a truly poetical ima- 
gination, will improve upon a survey of the original 
scenery, when its correspondence with the fable is 
discovered. Juno's stages are still more distinctly 
marked : she goes from Olympus by Pieria and 
iEmathia, to Athos ; from Athos, by sea, to Lem- 
nos, where, having engaged the god of Sleep in her 
interests, she continues her course to Imbros; and 
from Imbros to Lee turn, the most considerable pro- 
montory of Ida; here leaving the sea, she proceeds 
to Gargara, the summit of that mountain. 

When I attempted to follow the steps of these 
poetical journies, in my eye, from Mount Ida, and 
other elevated situations on the -^olian and Ionian 
side of the iEgean Sea ; I could take in so many of 
them as to form a tolerable picture of the whole. 
But I could not make this experiment with the same 
success from any station in European Greece. This 
induces me to suppose the composition to be Asia- 
tic, and that the original idea of Neptune and Juno's 
journey was most probably conceived in the neigh- 
bourhood of Troy. 

1 must own, that in this sort of inquiry we are apt 
to indulge our fancy ; and it is not without some 
apprehensions of falling into this error, that, by way 
of farther explanation, I risk the following conjec- 
ture. When I was in these classical countries, I 
could not help tracing one of the most ancient pieces 



90 ON THE ORIGINAL 

of heathen mythology up to its source, I mean the 
war of the Titans with the gods. For though the 
scene of this story lies in old Greece, yet some of its 
embellishments look very like the production of an 
Ionian imagination. I have already taken notice of 
the beauties of a western evening prospect from this 
coast. When the sun goes down behind the cloud- 
capped mountains of Macedonia and Thessaly, there 
is a picturesque wildness in the appearance, under 
certain points of view, which naturally calls to mind 
the old fable of the rebel giants bidding defiance to 
Jupiter, and scaling the heavens, as the fanciful b 
gestion of this rugged perspective. And we find 
this striking face of Nature adapted to so bold a fic- 
tion with a fitness and propriety, which its extrava- 
gance would forbid us to expect; for it was by no 
means a matter of indifference, which mountain^ 
were to be employed, or in what order they wire to 
be piled, to effect this daring escalade. If we coin- 
pare Homer and Virgil's account of this matter with 
the present state of the country, we shall find a 
nation in their descriptions, which, while it Miili- 
ciently distinguishes the Roman copy from the* Jreek 
original, will best explain my meaning. 
There was an old tradition 1 in Greece, which 1- 

Oo-ffav £7r' Ov\vfXTTG)fie[.ia.<jav defiey, avrap £-' Oaarj 
UrjXiov eivooriQvWov, Iv ovpavoe apparoe £n/._ Od. xi. 314. 
" Ter sunt conati itnponere Pelio Ossam 
Scilicet, atque Ossaj frondosum involvere Olympus." 

Virg. CiEon. i. 281. 
Homer's order is, -Olympus, Ossa, Pelion f Virgil is « IVlion. 
Ossa, Olympus." See Strabo and Mad. Dacier: The first is ob- 
scure, and the latter seems to have mistaken his meaning 
rhessahans said, that Neptune made the Valley of Tempe, through 

1^' r fl ° WS ' alludi »§to this earthquake; and Hero- 

dotus approves that opinion ; see his Polyhymnia, and the p.cture 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 91 

preserved there to this day, that Ossa and Olympus 
were originally different parts of the same mountain, 
of which the first formed the summit, and the latter 
the base, till they were separated by an earthquake. 
It is not improbable that their size and shape, as 
they appear under an eastern point of view, should 
have given rise to this tradition, and perhaps sug- 
gested to the inventor of the fable, or, if you please, 
to the Poet, who first adapted it to this Grecian 
scenery, the order of piling them one upon another. 
But Virgil, who never saw, or never attended to, 
this prospect, has deviated both from Homer, and 
Nature, in placing those mountains so as to form an 
inverted pyramid. 

It must however be acknowledged, that Virgil 
seldom errs by departing from Homer : if his ma- 
chinery will not bear so scrupulous a review as that 
of the Greek Poet, it is in general less his fault than 
his misfortune; nor is the manifest inferiority of the 
iEneid, in this respect, to be laid to his charge. A 
great part of his scene of action, though it has since 
acquired no small share of classical fame, was not 
at that time sufficiently consecrated to the purposes 
of poetry, by the birth, habitation, intrigues, and 
achievements of gods and- heroes. Nor is the geo- 
graphical disposition of Latium so favourable to 
fabulous adventure as that of Greece, where a most 
pleasing mixture of land and water is wonderfully 
calculated for a quick succession of scenery, afford- 
ing more distinct variety than could well be ima- 
gined within the same compass. It was here alone 
that the dull creed of Egypt could be extended, 
and modelled iuto that fanciful system of Mythology, 
which Homer has so effectually entailed upon his 
poetical posterity, that few of his legitimate sons 
have ventured to shake off that incumbrance; and 



92 ON THE ORIGINAL 

perhaps not one, who has not failed in the attempt 
In accommodating this most poetical religion and 
picturesque country to the plan of the Iliad and 
Odyssey, he had only to choose and shift the rich 
materials of this engaging fable and romantic sce- 
nery ; susceptible, under his management, even to 
a dramatic propriety, of the most natural, and yet 
most diversified combinations and transitions, that 
fancy could suggest. While Virgil, not daring to 
lose sight of his great model, not only brings his 
gods from Greece, but his shepherds from Arcadia, 
and his swans from Cayster : if Diana dances, it 
must be on the banks of the Eurotas. 

That the Roman Poet has many obligations to 
Homer, is evident to the slightest perusal of tlu-ir 
different compositions. But the difficulties under 
which he laboured, in adapting the beauties of the 
Iliad and Odyssey to a later age and different me- 
ridian, have not, to my knowledge, been observed. 
Whenever Homer attempted to surprise and asto- 
nish his audience with something strauge, conform- 
ing himself to the known state of the globe in his 
days, he carried them far west of his own country, 
to the unfrequented coast of Italy. But science, 
unluckily for both poets, making her progress in the 
same western direction, had, before Virgil's time, 
dissipated that darkness (so favourable to the mar- 
vellous) in which Italy was involved, in the heroic 
ages. The author of the iEneid found Circes island 
in his neighbourhood, and the country of the Lastri- 
gones among the gardens of the Roman nobility. 
The distance of the scene, which was so convenient 
to Homer, ceased to have its operation with regard 
to the Roman Poet, whose countrymen, however 
credulous of eastern wonders, had not so much 
faith in romantic stories of strange adventures iu 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 93 

home. I dare say the Ithaca of Homer never raised 
.a smile in his contemporary audience ; though the 
Romans, to whom this little island was a familiar 
object in their passage between Italy and Greece, 
treat it in a style of jocularity natural enough from 
the masters of the world to so diminutive a kingdom. 



HOMER'S MANNERS. 

Of the several proofs which might be alleged in 
favour of Homer's knowledge of different countries, 
his lively delineations of national character must 
have furnished the strongest and most pleasing to 
those, who lived near his time; whilst the original 
features of those peculiarities were enough discern- 
ible to bear a comparison, with what we find of them 
in his writings : where, what he has left of this kind, 
is marked with too much precision, and supported 
throughout with too much consistence, to allow us 
to think that he had acquired his knowledge of 
mankind at home. 

But while the Eastern traveller finds the vestiges 
of those characterizing circumstances, which once 
distinguished the inhabitants of particular tracts, 
either totally obliterated, or at least too faint to be 
traced with any tolerable degree of certainty ; he 
will discover a general resemblance between the 
ancient and present manners of those countries, so 
striking, that we cannot without injustice to our 
subject pass it over unnoticed. For perhaps no- 
thing has tended so much to injure the reputation of 
that extraordinary genius in the judgment of the 
present age, as his representation of customs and 



1)4 ON THE ORIGINAL 

manners so very different from our own. Our 
polite neighbours the French seem to be most, 
offended at certain pictures of primitive simplicity, 
so unlike those refined modes of modern life, in 
which they have taken the lead ; and to this we 
may partly impute the rough treatment which our 
Poet received from them about the end of the last, 
and the beginning of this, century. Though I must 
observe, that if upon that occasion he met with un- 
fair and ungenerous enemies, he also found some 
warm and respectable friends. 5 

To reconcile ourselves to usages and customs so 
very opposite to our own, is a task too difficult for 
the generality of mankind ; and therefore Homer's 
manners must ever be liable to exceptions in propor- 
tion to their difference from those of his readers. 
We may add, that many beautiful allusions to the 
times, for which he wrote, are irretrievably lost, evi n 
to the most conversant in antiquities. However 
we found the manners of the Iliad still preserved in 
some parts of the East, nay retaining, in a remark- 
able degree, that genuine cast of natural simplicity, 
which we admire in his works and the sacred 
books, it may not be improper to inquire how such 
an invariability in the modes of life should be pecu- 
liar to that part of the world, before we examine 

*The principal managers of this controversy were Boileau, 
Madame Dacier, Boivin, &c. on the side of Homer, and La Motte, 
Perrault, Fenelon, and Fontenelle, &c. who took part against him. 
Without entering into the merits of a dispute which was carried on 
with unbecoming acrimony on both sides, we may venture to 
upon the whole, that the Poet was more abused and more compli- 
mented upon that occasion than he deserved; and as his enemies 
charged him with faults he is not guilty of, so his frfeuds diaooi 
beauties in him, of which he never dreamed. But I must ob 
that the loudest in their abuse of Homer were those. v>ho did not 
understand the language in which he wrote. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 95 

how far this resemblance between such distant 
periods extends. 

That so many of the customs of Homer's age, and 
still more of the ancient Jews, should be continued 
down to the present times, in countries, which have 
undergone such a variety of political revolutions, is 
extraordinary. President Montesquieu's manner 
of accounting for this singular stability of Eastern 
manners is not at all satisfactory in my opinion. I 
shall propose a conjecture on this head, which 
occurred in that part of our travels through Arabia, 
where we found this resemblance most striking. 
But that the reader may form a better judgment on 
this matter, it will be necessary to lay before him a 
general view of the interior and uncultivated part 
of that peninsula, and its inhabitants. 

There is perhaps no country in the world less 
capable of variation, either for better or worse, than 
the extensive deserts of Arabia. The former mag- 
nificence of Palmyra, which flourished in so remark- 
able a degree in the midst of those uncultivated 
plains, though now desolate and in ruins, may ap- 
pear to contradict this opinion. But if we consider 
the motives and means which produced a most mag- 
nificent and opulent city in so extraordinary a situ- 
ation, it will remove this difficulty. The first inha- 
bitants of Tedmor could have no temptation to 
settle there, except on account of the fountain, 
which we have elsewhere described.* 1 This made 
it, at all times, the most convenient resting-place 
between the Euphrates and the cultivated parts of 
Syria on the sea-coast ; the possession of which ef- 
fectually commanded the passage of the desert. 
For neither troops nor caravans could proceed 
without the permission of the proprietors of this 
h See Ruins of Palmyra. 



9<j ON THE ORIGINAL 

fountain, of which we had sufficient proof in our 
journey to this place. For though our camels bore 
the passage of the desert very well, our horses and 
mules were so languid and exhausted by a march of 
twenty-six hours on those sandy plains, in a hot 
sun, without a drop of water, that I am convinced 
they could not have gone much farther. Palmyra, 
being thus possessed, by situation alone, of the 
balance both of power and commerce between the 
eastern and western world, then contending for the 
empire of the whole, made astonishing efforts to 
change the face of that country, the only possible 
way of changing its manners. Water was brought, 
at incredible labour and expense, from distant 
mountains, to produce that vegetation, which Nature 
had denied ; but with so little success, that even 
the attempt, great as it was, has but narrowly 
escaped ! oblivion : so that this singular spot has 
not only relapsed into its primitive condition and 
appearance (the vast ruins excepted), but has re- 
covered its pristine inhabitants, with their customs, 
manners, language, and, what is most extraordinary, 
their traditions. In vain did we attempt to explain 
to the Arabs any fact recorded on the marbles, 
which we found there. They treated the account of 
some of those buildings, which we read to them 
from the inscriptions, with great contempt, as the 

; Had those ruins been swallowed up by an earthquake before we 

Z t 7' °l thC materials beeu a PP lied t0 °<^r P"r r 

which t he,r d.tance from any town or city has prevented, a would 

ever e^H T*' ^ ^^ " hether such magnificence bad 
head in 7* Hard ° Uia e ^ reSSeS his i"«ec *««" - this 

avs ?<«* Se r h ° h3d §,VeU S ° me acco -t <* those remains, ho 
says, Quorum tamen nollem fidem nr» s t a r a »• c i 
Pliny, lib. v. cap. 25. prsstare. Sec Ins notes ou 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 97 

invidious contrivance of later times to rob Solomon 
the son of David (Salman Ebn Doud) of the honour 
of having erected them. In short, Palmyra and 
Zenobia are names absolutely unknown at this day 
to the Bedouins of the desert; where Tedmor and k 
Solomon are the constant subjects of encomium 
and admiration. 

It seems universally true with regard to a people 
habituated to the sweets of unbounded liberty, that 
they are not easily tempted to resign the roving 
pleasures of that unhoused free condition for the 
quiet, ease, security, or even luxuries, of regular 
society. This observation may be justly applied 
to the true Bedouin. The Hottentot or Cherokee 
is not fonder of his native woods, than the wan- 
dering Arab is of his sandy domain. As his wants 
are few, for he knows only those of Nature ; so his 
desires are confined; for he either subdues, or 
affects to disclaim, those he cannot gratify. Thus 
architecture and agriculture are not merely matters 
of indifference to him, as things out of his reach ; 
he holds them in contempt, priding himself in his 
poor tent, under the walls of cities ; and despising 
tillage as a mean occupation, compared with his 
rambling pastoral life. This aversion to the hus- 
bandman is reciprocal, and a shepherd has ever 
been an abomination to an Egyptian. The Arab 
respects birth and family, about which the Turks 
are indifferent: is rather more rigid, than they are 
in his expectations of female reserve; is not ad- 
dicted to their unnatural passion, but agrees with 
them in their exclusion of women from society. He 
is temperate, brave, friendly, hospitable, true to 
his engagements, nice in his point of honour, and, 

k See Palmyra. 
G 



98 ON THE ORIGINAL 

in general, scrupulously observant of the duties of 
his religion : yet his ideas of plunder and rapine are 
perfectly conformable to those of the heroic and 
patriarchal times. Thus is his life strangely di- 
vided between deeds of cruelty, violence, and in- 
justice, on the one hand ; and the most generous acts 
of humanity on the other. 

Breeding cattle is his profession ; hunting and 
hawking are his principal amusements ; while rob- 
bery and devastation are not less the objects of hi- 
ambition, than of his avarice. He lives constantly 
in tents, is much on horseback, always armed ; and 
almost constantly meditating enterprise, or consult- 
ing retreat. To this state of continual action or 
alarm his circumstances are peculiarly adapted : for 
his property, his family, his business, his pleasures, 
and I may add, his laws and his religion (or more 
properly his courts of justice and his places of 
worship) are as moveable as his person. 

The Arabs boast a purer and more unmixed an- 
tiquity, than any other nation: history, and the na- 
ture of their country, seem to concur in the support 
of this claim. 

According to the Mosaic account, Arabia mo* 
have been among those countries, which were first 
peopled. And there is good reason to believe, that 
the inland parts of that peninsula have never been 
conquered, notwithstanding the claims of so manv 
different nations, who have, all in their turn, reck- 
oned the Arabs among their subjects 

As to the present pretensions of the Ottoman 
Poite to dominion over Arabia, they seem to re* 
mu h U po„ the >sam e footing with those of former 
ages. I never travelled in any part of tho.e deserts 
where it would not have been d!^ *£%£ 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 99 

my Turkish firman or passport; and where a janis- 
sary, instead of procuring that security and respect, 
which I experienced from his protection in provinces 
acknowledging obedience to the Grand Seignor, 
would not have exposed me to abuse and insult. The 
presents (a term of extensive signification in the 
East) which are distributed annually by the Ba- 
shaw of Damascus to the several Arab princes, 
through whose territory he conducts the cara- 
van of pilgrims to Mecca, are at Constantinople 
called a free gift ; and considered as an act of 
the Sultan's generosity towards his indigent sub- 
jects; while, on the other hand, the Arab shecks 
deny even a right of passage through the districts 
of their command, and exact those sums as a tax 
due for the permission of going through their coun- 
try. In the frequent bloody contests, which the 
adjustment of those fees produces, the Turks com- 
plain of robbery, and the Arabs of invasion. This 
is the substance of all, that I could procure on this 
head by diligent inquiry, not only at Constantino- 
ple, and in the desert, but at Damascus. At the last 
place I had an opportunity of collecting the most 
authentic information on both sides of the question. 
The Arabs of Palestine have the same ideas with 
regard to that country. They consider it as their 
hereditary property from the earliest times, notwith- 
standing many temporary invasions of their right. 
And though there is now an Aga at Jerusalem, acting 
under the Bashaw of Damascus, he looks more like a 
military officer levying contributions in an enemy's 
country, than the governor of a province, in acknow- 
ledged allegiance to the Sultan. He has no influ- 
ence, no respect paid him, even no security but in 
his walls, and in his military force. The pilgrims, 
who do not purchase Arab protection, are frequently 

02 



100 ON THE ORIGINAL 

plundered within sight of the holy sepulchre, and 
at the very gates of the capital. 1 

In this sketch of the interior of Arabia, which 
has, to the best of my observation, all the accuracy, 
that so general a description will admit ; the reader 
will perhaps acknowledge with me (as one cause, 
which may have contributed towards the uniformity 
and stability of Oriental manners), a perpetual and 
inexhaustible store of the aboriginal modes and cus- 
toms of primeval life. These are inaccessible to the 
varieties aud fluctuations, which conquest, com- 
merce, arts, or agriculture, introduce in other places; 
and expand, or contract, their circle of influence 
on the neighbouring countries, according to their 
vicinity, their intercourse, and the various revolutions 
of their respective fortunes. 

But it is impossible to do this subject justice, 
without taking likewise into consideration the man- 
ners 111 of the sacred writers, which come so much 
nearer those of Arabia than Homer's, as they lived 
nearer that country, and as most of the scenes, 
which they describe, lie either in it, or contiguous to 
it. As to the conformity of style and sentiment 
between those writers, and the Poet, it is no more 
than what we are to expect in just copies of the 
same original: nor does it seem at all necessary to 
account for the agreement from Homer's soppo 
knowledge of the Jewish learning through the Egyp- 

1 See Palmyra, for Arabia not conquered. 

m American manners might also have a place here, and bear testi- 
mony to the truth of Homer's picture of human nature; but though, 
in some respects, savage manners have full as much dignity, as those 
of the Heroic, or any age (for even the Spartan education never 
carried a sense of honour, contempt of danger, patience of pain. 
farther than some of the Indian tribes); yet in general their 
of civilization is too far short of that, which the Poet descnb 
come under our present consideration. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 101 

tian priests, as some ingenious men have too loosely 
conjectured. 

To enter into this comparison of the Heroic, Patri- 
archal, and Bedouin manners, with that minuteness, 
to which it may hereafter be extended in the journal 
of my Eastern travels, would exceed the purpose of 
this abstract. I shall at present content myself 
with laying before the reader some of the most 
striking features in this resemblance, which I shall 
consider separately. 

The traveller, who has time and opportunities of 
making observations on the manners and customs of 
those countries, which I have visited in the East, 
will (1) be surprised to see how far dissimulation 
and diffidence are carried in that part of the world. 
He will (2) be shocked at the scenes of cruelty, 
violence, and injustice, which must necessarily fall 
within his notice ; as he will (3) be charmed with 
the general spirit of hospitality, which prevails so 
much more there than in Europe; he will (4) regret 
the loss of female society, and be disgusted at the 
licentious style of pleasantry, which takes place in 
its room. When he sees persons of the highest rank 
employed in the lowest domestic duties, he will (5) 
be offended at the meanness of such occupations : 
and as to the general turn of wit and humour, it 
will (0) appear either flat and insipid, or coarse and 
indelicate. 

But when he finds similar representations of life 
in Homer, he will conclude, that they are not the 
capricious singularities of a particular age or coun- 
try ; but that they may be traced up to some com- 
mon causes : perhaps to the nature of soil and cli- 
mate, and to the spirit of that unequal legislation, 
to which Oriental timidity has hitherto indolently 
submitted •, not daring to assert the natural rights of 



102 ON THE ORIGINAL 

mankind. Let us now see how far the six general 
classes, into which I have divided the similarities of 
the ancient Greek and Jewish, and the present Ara- 
bian manners (merely in conformity to the order in 
which observations of this kind occurred in our 
travels) are connected with the same imperfect state 
of society. 

I. There is nothing more remarkable in the man- 
ners of the East, especially to an English traveller, 
than the degree of refinement, to which profound 
dissimulation is carried in all ranks, but especially 
among those in power. In the visits and common 
intercourse of the great, more attention is paid to 
the looks than to the words of the company : and 
the speaker generally weighs, what he is to say, by 
the countenance of the person he converse* with, 
rather than by his own sentiments or opinion of the 
question. He accommodates his language much 
less to truth and matter of fact, than to the private 
purposes of his hopes or fears. In short, all confi- 
dence is destroyed by the despotism of the East. 
Suspicion begins with the prince, and from him a 
general diffidence spreads through every rank and 
order, ending only in the man, who has nothing to 
fear, because he has nothing to lose. The arts of 
disguise are in those countries the great arts of life ; 
and the character of Ulysses would form a perfect 
model for those, who wish to make their wav iu it 
with security and respect. A spv, who is secretlv 
employed in other countries, is here an avowed 
officer of state. But then, in proportion to the mu- 
tual distrust, which so universally prevails in the 
several departments of government, confidence be- 
tween individuals, where it exists at all, is carried 
great lengths; and the Arab history, winch is so 
lull of political treachery, abounds also in account- 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 103 

of private friendships, which do not fall short of 
those of Pylades and Orestes, Achilles and Patro- 
clus, or David and Jonathan. 

II. Cruelty, violence, and injustice, are so evi- 
dently the result of defective government, that it is 
unnecessary to look for any other general cause of 
the scenes of this sort, with which Homer abounds 
in common with other ancient writers, and agree- 
ably to the present manners of those countries. For 
when every man is, in a great measure, judge in his 
own cause, vices of this class are not only more fre- 
quent, but, inforo conscientice, less criminal than in 
a civilized state, where the individual transfers his 
resentments to the community, and private injury 
expects redress from public justice ; where the legis- 
lature does not engage for our personal security, we 
have a right to use such means, as are in our power, 
in order to destroy the aggressor, who would destroy 
us. In such cases bodily strength and courage must 
decide most contests, while on the other hand, craft, 
cunning, and surprise, are the legitimate weapons 
of the weak against the strong. We accordingly 
find, that both the ancient and modern history of 
the East is a continued narrative of bloodshed and 
treachery ; and in the heroic times homicide was 
so common, that we see the Poet alluding to a fugi- 
tive murderer taking shelter under the roof of a 
stranger (to escape, not public justice, but the re- 
venge of the relations of the deceased) as a familiar 
occurrence in life. Some of the favourite person- 
ages of the Iliad and Odyssey had fled their country 
for this crime ; and most of Homer's heroes would, 
in the present age, be capitally convicted, in any 
country in Europe, on the Poet's evidence. 

III. But that hospitality should be derived, in 
any degree, from the same source, may seem a para- 



104 ON THE ORIGINAL 

dox to those who have not observed, that this 
virtue prevails in most countries, and in the different 
provinces of each country, very much in proportion 
to the idleness, poverty, and insecurity, which attend 
a defective police. As dissimulation may he pro- 
perly called an Oriental vice, so hospitality will 
retain the name of an Oriental virtue ; and both will 
prevail in the East, as long as the Arab mode of 
government continues in that part of the globe. It 
is some consolation, in so wretched a state of society, 
that hospitality should be most cultivated, where it 
is most wanted. In Arabia, the rights of hospitality 
(so properly called the point of honour of the E 
are the happy substitute of positive law ; which, in 
some degree, supplies the place of justice, connect- 
ing, by a voluntary intercourse of disinterested 
offices, those vagabond tribes, who despise legisla- 
tion, deny the perfect rights of mankind, and set the 
civil magistrate at defiance. A strong instance of 
the powers of that generous sympathizing principle 
in the social constitution of our nature, which the 
wisest government will encourage; and which the 
most depraved cannot suppress. 

IV. We must acknowledge, that this most pleasing 
feature, in a portrait of Heroic, Patriarchal, and 
Modern Oriental life, is sadly contrasted by a 
gloomy part of the picture, which products the most 
striking difference between our manners and theirs ; 
I mean, that unnatural separation of the Bexes, a hich 
precludes the female half from that share in the 
duties and amusements of life, which the common 
interests of society demand. 

The bad effects of this tyrannical proscription of 
the most amiable part of the creation (true charac- 
teristic of savage life), are only known to those, who 
experience the happiness of a more liberal distnbu- 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 105 

tion of the business, and pleasures of the male and 
female province, which only soothes the cares, and 
enlivens the joys, of the retired, domestic scene : 
but, in the more active and enlarged sphere of am- 
bition and enterprise, softens ferocity, while it ani- 
mates indifference, and rouses into action the noblest 
powers of the mind. What a blank must we then 
find in the manners of a country, where that sex, to 
which Nature seems to have intrusted so extensive 
an influence over the most active period of our lives, 
is debased by a most humiliating servitude and ba- 
nishment, which deprives us of the most powerful 
motives to great and generous undertakings ! Yet 
such was the Heroic and Patriarchal state of society ; 
and such it is, at this day, in the East; with a dif- 
ference, however, that is much in favour of Homer's 
manners: for though the female subordination is 
strongly marked in the Iliad and Odyssey, yet wo- 
men seem to make a more considerable part of so- 
ciety there than among the ancient Jews ; and cer- 
tainly much more than the present Oriental restric- 
tions on this head permit. 

As the influence of a custom so fatal to public and 
private happiness must have extended, in some de- 
gree, to the whole system of heroic manners ; it is 
impossible to do justice to the original productions 
of genius in that age, without making allowance for 
its effects in a true picture of life. Is it not very 
remarkable, that Homer, so great a master of the 
tender and pathetic, who has exhibited human na- 
ture in almost every shape, and under every view, 
has not given a single iustance of the powers and 
effects of love, distinct from sensual enjoyment, in 
the Iliad?" though the occasion of the war, which is 

■ Mr. Pope has observed, "That pity and the softer passions 
are not of the nature of the Iliad ;" he might have said, that they 



106 ON THE ORIGINAL 

the subject of that poem, might so naturally intro- 
duce something of this kind: nor can I allow the 
story of Ulysses and Calypso, in the Odyssey, to 

are not of the character of Homer's manners. Yet, when they are 
introduced amidst the terrors of death and slaughter, the contrast 
is irresistible: and a tender scene in the Iliad, like a cultivated 
spot in the Alps, derives new beauties from the horrors, which 
surround it. Indeed, had he left us but one specimen of this kind, 
the interview of Hector and Andromache, in the sixth book, this 
would have been sufficient to shew his entire command over our 
softest feelings. Should I presume to see a fault in this admired 
picture, it is one that falls, not upon the Poet, but his manner*; 
and may help to explain my ideas on this matter. Andromache 
having raised our pity and compassion to the utmost stretch, that 
tragedy can carry those passions; Hector answers, 

H kcu Efioi race Tzavra /j.e\ei, yvvat. 
and concludes, 

AW' eiQ oikov tovaa, &c. 

His meaning here was to divert Andromache's attention to oth.i 
objects, and the expression was meant to convey the utmost 
tenderness; but has it that effect upon us? is not the English 
reader offended at a certain indelicacy in those word-, which 
Homer puts in the mouth of an affectionate husband t.» hi- 
wife, and, in another place, of a most dutiful son to his mother? 
See Odyss. <t>. 350. In short, the whole behaviour of Telemachus 
to Penelope, however respectful, puts us in mind of the Ath- 
law, which constituted the son, when he was of age, the kvpto?, or 
guardian of his mother. Indeed that republic seems to ha* 
nished women not only from a share of their amusement?, but 
virtues. When an oration was delivered iu honour of those, \s ho 
died for their country in battle, they were permitted, it is true, to 
be present : but with what an impolitic mortiticatiou to their m 
we find that indulgence disgraced, when Pericles pronounced the 
funeral oration upon those, who fell in the first year of the Pelo- 
ponnesian war. For having enforced every argument, that elo- 
quence could suggest upon that solemn and interesting occasion. 
when he turns to the widows and female relations of the deceased. 
he addresses them with an unpardonable coldness. He tells them, 
that he shall say little: that he hopes, that thev will not be worst 
than Nature made them : and that their greatest honour was to 
have as little, as possible, said of them among the men, cither 
good or bad. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 107 

come up to our ideas of that passion, any more than 
that of Jupiter and Juno, Mars and Venus, and 
some other love scenes of primitive manners. Virgil's 
age happily supplied him with those pictures, to 
which Homer was a stranger ; and he availed him- 
self most successfully of this opening. For, taking 
the mere outline of his story from the Greek Poet, 
he has left us a master-piece in that kind, as much 
above the original, for elegant expression of all the 
varieties of that passion, as Dido is superior to 
Calypso in tenderness and delicacy of sentiment. 

Let us not account for this by supposing, with 
some of his best commentators, that he considered 
the passion of love as a weakness unworthy of a 
hero. Homer respected Nature too much to despise 
or suppress any of her genuine feelings. But, in 
short, this passion, according to our ideas of it, 
was unknown to the manners of that age. Not 
only the male characters, particularly that of the 
hero of the Iliad, retain the harshness and ferocity 
of this defect ; but the female sphere of action, 
which is now properly extended, was then confined 
to the uniformity of servile domestic duties. The 
prude and coquette, with all the intermediate shades 

° H pa, Kai ayicag efxapwre Kpovov iraig i]V TrapaKOtrrjV 
Tokxl 5' v7ro x^ wv ^ ta <P vet/ vtodrjXea ttolt}v, 
Aiotop 0' lp(n)EVTa.) the Kpoicov, rjo vaKivdov, 
Wvkvov Kai (xakaKOv, bg awo jftorog v\poa eepye. 
Ty evl XeZaaSrjv* ettl Se v£(f>e\tjv eacrapro 
KaXjjy, yj>vour\v y GTiktrvai 5' aTreiwrTOV itpaai. 
'Slg 6 fiep arpe/nag ivEe Trartjp ava Tapyapu) a/cpw, 
Xttv(j) Kai (f>i\orr}Ti dafxeig, e\e B* ayicag a-yocnv. 

II. H. v. 346. 

Speluncam Dido, Dux et Trojanus eandem 
Deveniunt. Prima et tellus et pronuba Juno 
Dant signum : fulsere igncs et conscius sether 
Connubiis. <£n. 1. iv. v. 165. 



108 ON THE ORIGINAL 

of female character, are as much beyond Homer's 
knowledge of life, as his employing royal beauty in 
the meanest offices of domestic drudgery falls short 
of the refined attentions of modern gallantry. 

Without pursuing this thought to the remote con- 
sequences, to which it may lead a more curious 
inquirer; I shall only attempt to deduce from it an 
apology, or rather an account of some coarse 
pictures, which are but too often and too faithfully 
copied from the manners now under our conside- 
ration. 

When ideas of love extended little farther than 
animal enjoyment, the poet, who engaged in this 
subject, was confined to mere licentious descriptions 
of female beauty, or to such representations of its 
effects, as modern delicacy will not suffer. 

As the subject, so of course the language, of this 
passion, was barren and contracted; the simplicity 
of those times had not yet wandered into circumlo- 
cution : the whole vocabulary of love consisting of 
one explicit term; and, in proportion to the rigour 
and severity of the female proscription, the eX[ 
sion was careless and indelicate. 

But the footing upon which a more rational inter- 
course of the sexes is now conducted, gives a new 
turn to society, and has a great share in producing 
the varieties of modern character; for a certain pro- 
portion of voluntary attention in one sex, and of no- 
prescribed reserve in the other, equally unknown to 
Homer and the East, not only regulate in 
measure the style and tone of what is so variously 
called good-breeding in private life, but materially 
influence public virtues, and the happiness of a peo- 
ple. Hence arises a new set of words, as well as 
ideas; the coarse, the delicate, the decent, the ob- 
scene, the forward, the reserved, are relative terms, 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 109 

not only varying as to their former and present sig- 
nification, but bearing different meanings now in 
different parts of Europe, as the male and female 
intercourse is more or less promiscuous and familiar. 
While I should be sorry, by these observations, to 
reconcile any reader to certain indecent pictures of 
the Iliad and Odyssey ; yet still I could wish to dis- 
tinguish them from some infamous productions of 
later dates, and more polished countries, for which 
there is no apology, by throwing the blame, where 
it chiefly lies, upon the manners of the times, rather 
than on the painter. It would be great injustice to 
Homer, not to pay him the compliment which these 
considerations suggest : I will venture to say, that, 
upon an impartial view of this part of his character, 
he will appear to excel his own state of society, in 
point of decency and delicacy, as much as he has 
surpassed more polished ages in point of genius. 

V. In an age when rank and condition are multi- 
plied and subdivided with so much nice and punc- 
tilious precision, it is difficult to reconcile ourselves 
to the simplicity of one uniform set of manners, 
where the great distinction is that of lord and slave, 
master and servant : nor can we bear to see those, 
who preside in public council, and lead an army to 
the field, employed in tending their flocks, and dress- 
ing their dinners. We are likewise disgusted, when 
we see queens and princesses employed in the lowest 
departments of domestic drudgery. 

In short, it is impossible to be so much interested 
in the justest representations of Nature, which we 
never saw, as in those, which come home to our 
own experience of life. I cannot help, therefore, 
observing, that the pastoral poetry of an age or 
country, where pastoral manners do not prevail, 
however natural in scenery, must be artificial as 



110 ON THE ORIGINAL 

to characters ; and that the only original pictures 
of this kind are to be found in the state of society 
now under consideration. 

Let us take a short view of the matter. When 
the cares, as well as the pleasures, of the country, 
were compatible with the highest rank, and the 
prince and peasant were literally united in the same 
person ; elevation of sentiment and expression be- 
longed to the royal shepherd, and were found in 
rural life. Hence it is that Oriental pastoral, though 
obscure, and defective in the art of composition, 
affords the boldest flight of genius of this kind ; 
and that Homer stands next in rank for original 
pastoral beauties, with less sublimity of sentiment, 
it is true, and less energy of expression, but more 
picturesque in his scenery, and more delicate in his 
manners; advantages over other poets, which he 
derived from a finer country, and a less rude period 
of society. The modern Arab, in whom I have 
seen the characters of prince, shepherd, and poet, 
united, retains, in his compositions of this kind, the 
wildness, irregularity, and indelicacy of his fore- 
fathers, with a considerable share of the same ori- 
ginal glowing imagination, which we could discover, 
even in their extempore productions, and under the 
disadvantage of crude and hasty translation. 

But when Theocritus, and his imitator, Virgil, 
wrote each in a more refined age, and for polished 
courts, the prince and shepherd were so totally se- 
parated, that they formed the opposite extremes of 
society; their pastoral dramatis personce were of 
course, taken from the lowest condition in life, to 
deliver the sentiments and feelings of the highest ; 
an absurdity which the acknowledged beauties of 
the Greek and Roman Poet cannot make us over- 
look. Nor were they insensible of this inconsis- 



GENIUS OF HOMER. Ill 

tency ; but in attempting to correct it they fell into a 
worse fault ; for it must be allowed, that their cha- 
racters please least when they are most pastoral, and 
approach nearest to real life. As to later produc- 
tions of this kind, being confined to no standard in 
Nature, they fluctuate between those extremes, ac- 
cording to the fancy of the poet, the degree of his 
veneration for the great models of antiquity, or of 
his prejudices in favour of the manners of his own 
country. The consequence of this is, that either 
the language and sentiment are lowered to the con- 
dition of the speaker, and become mean and dis- 
gusting ; or they are borrowed from a higher sphere 
in life, and offend one of the most established rules 
in poetics. 

VI. We now come to the sixth and last object of 
our comparison. There is perhaps no display of 
the human faculties, with regard to which the taste 
of different ages and countries coincide so little, as 
productions of wit and humour ; whose genuine 
spirit is so subtle and volatile in its nature, that it 
evaporates upon the least change in the circum- 
stances which produced it, leaving nothing behind 
but the insipid dregs of low buffoonry. 

If such has been the transitory fate of Greek and 
Roman wit of the best times, we can have little ex- 
pectations from those rude productions, which are 
the objects of our present comparison. But as the 
resemblance of manners, now under consideration, 
extends to certain comic similarities, which seem to 
point towards the same despotic origin, whence we 
have attempted to deduce the most striking features 
in Oriental life: a farther inquiry into this matter 
(including what has been said on that gross and 
abandoned humour, which prevails in a defective 
state of female society) might furnish some hints 



112 ON THE ORIGINAL 

towards the true history and real character of 
ridicule. 

At this time we shall only observe, that imperfect 
society neither affords the matter or manner neces- 
sary to a fair experiment of talents of this kind. 

The uniform sameness of primitive life is inca- 
pable of the first ; for, while it gives an air of gravity 
and dignity to manners, it cramps the comic genius, 
which can only ripen and flourish amidst variety of 
character. The attentions of rude society are barely 
sufficient for the necessaries of life ; those of a more 
advanced period are taken up with its superfluities. 
Then it is, that false appetites and imaginary wants 
are created, unknown to Nature, to Homer, and the 
Bedouin; arts, trades, professions, multiply; new 
distinctions, ranks, and conditions are produced; 
and, in short, the various vices, follies, and affecta- 
tions, of a wealthy, commercial, free people, open 
an ample field of pleasantry to a Swift, an Addison, 
or an Hogarth. If we have excelled other countries 
in this walk of humour, it may be ascribed to our 
rich diversity of original character, open to every 
artist, without those restrictions, which seldom 
check licentiousness without suppressing geniu>. 

As the matter of primitive wit is circumscribed 
by this barrenness of subject, so its manner is 
checked by the danger of offending. Thus the first 
sallies of this kind are either controlled by timidity, 
or disgraced by roughness, which is so closely con- 
nected with actual violence, that they are often ex- 
ercised together, and called in aid of one another. 
Hence that illiberal mockery of personal deformity, 
that ungenerous sneer at poverty, and, above all, 
that cruel, unmanly irony, and insolent triumph of 
the conqueror over the vanquished; which form 90 
many disgusting pictures in Homer, in the pre- 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 113 

sent manners of the East, and all barbarous coun- 
tries, as well as among the vulgar of the most civi- 
lized, with whom the transition from raillery to 
blows is so natural, that the latter seems only a 
bolder and coarser expression of the first. 

So close and so early an alliance between wit and 
violence is, I must own, very little to the credit of 
the former: I fear it is butabad apology for her to 
say, that she commenced acquaintance with that 
rough companion when she was very young. But 
we must not, from partial observations, upon a sub- 
ject requiring a more enlarged consideration, draw 
general conclusions, unfavourable to Homer and 
ourselves; for there aresome strokes of humour 1 ' in 
the Poet, that it will be difficult to resolve into that 
tyrannical principle, in which, 1 must confess, the 
brutal raillery of the Iliad and Odyssey is too much 
founded. 

As there is no part of this Essay to which the 
observations which occurred to me in my Eastern 
travels, particularly in Palestine, Egypt, and above 
all, the interior of Arabia, contribute so largely, as 
to this article of Homer's manners ; so there is none, 
which has cost me so much pains in selecting and 
arranging, out of copious materials, what might be 
proper for this contracted specimen, which, after 
all, is imperfect in its present state. I shall be dis- 
appointed if some of the Poet's abler admirers, taking 
up his defence on this ground, do not anticipate 
part of what I have farther to say on this subject, 
when I shall attempt to try the truth and consist- 

p Of this sort is the comic story, which the disguised Ulysses 
tells Eumajus, in the 14th book, of his having forgotten his cloak, 
when he was on an advanced post before Troy, in a cold night; 
aud of the arch trick played upon one of the party,* who was sent 
on a fool's errand upon that occasion. 

H 



114 ON THE ORIGINAL 

ence of the leading characters of the Iliad and 
Odyssey, by that true test, viz. the manners of the 
Heroic age; to the reader who judges of them by 
the present times, the courage of Achilles must 
appear brutal ferocity, and the wisdom of Ulysses 
low cunning. 

If this short sketch of Homer's life be just, it 
allows me to conclude with the highest compliment 
to the powers and extent of Homer's original genius: 
for I may venture to say, that from the greatest uni- 
formity of simple manners that ever fell to the share 
of any poet, he drew the greatest variety of distinct 
character that has ever been produced by the same 
hand. 



HOMER AN HISTORIAN. 

From what has been already said, Homer must 
stand unrivalled, as the father of history : to him wl 
owe the earliest account of arts, science, manners, 
and government; and without him, no just ideas 
can be formed of the state and true character of 
primitive society. This is not only the most in- 
teresting of all historical information, but it is trans- 
mitted to us upon the most incontestable authority ; 
for he, who has established the name of poet in his 
own age, by just pictures of life ; becomes the his- 
torian of posterity, upon the most respectable pre- 
tensions. This is a sort of appeal to conlemporarv 
evidence, which the dry annalist cannot claim. I 
am therefore entirely within my subject, when I 
attempt to shew, that Homer was a faithful histo- 
rian, because he was a correct painter. 

But some of the most discerning judges of anti- 






GENIUS OF HOMER. 115 

quity did not confine him to these limits ; they pre- 
fer his authority, even in matters of fact, to that of 
professed writers of history. The original charac- 
ter of his composition is favourable to this opinion ; 
and so natural and plausible a correspondence be- 
tween the scene and the action of the Iliad would 
induce us to think, that he took the first from ocular 
examination, and the last from the prevailing tra- 
ditions of the times. His living in the neighbour- 
hood of Troy strengthens this conjecture. It gave 
him an opportunity, not only of being thoroughly 
acquainted with that spot, but of collecting circum- 
stantial accounts of the most renowned achieve- 
ments of the war, perhaps from those who were 
eye-witnesses of the siege, and had signalized them- 
selves upon the Scamandrian plain ; or at least 
from their children. 

Though our object is to establish the credit due 
to Homer, as an historian, chiefly upon the consist- 
ence of his facts, and his general character of truth, 
yet we may appeal to other authority for this opi- 
nion. The most satisfactory information of the early 
state of Greece, with regard to its policy, laws, 
manners, navigation, and strength, is that concise 
but sensible account which Thucydides prefixes to 
his history of the Peloponnesian war; and that 
writer, though a declared enemy to poetical his- 
tory, forms his opinion of the ancient state of that 
country from Homer. 

That the ancients differed as to the circumstances 
of the Trojan war, is well known ; and that some 
variations, even in the accounts of those who were 
actors in that scene, left the Poet at liberty to 
adopt or reject facts, as it best suited his purpose, 
is highly probable. Succeeding poets would take 
the same liberty. Indeed the tragedians, whose 

h2 



116 ON TOE ORIGINAL 

subjects are mostly taken from the Trojan story, 
have departed from Homer in several instances. 
Euripides chose a subject for one of his plays, 
which supposes that Helen never was at Troy ; and 
though he was so fond of that plot as to repeat it 
(for his Helen and Iphigenia in Aulis differ very 
little in this respect), yet we cannot suppose that he 
would have deserted Homer without any authority. 
The account, which Herodotus received of Helen 
and Menelaus from the Egyptian priests, was suffi- 
cient ground for him to go upon ; and shews the 
different ideas which prevailed so early with regard 
to the Trojan war: yet, when this matter comes to 
be fairly stated between the Poet and the Historian, 
I think it will be decided in favour of the first; not 
that I would encourage that diffidence in Hero- 
dotus, which has been already carried too far. 
Were I to give my opinion of him, in this respect, 
having followed him through most of the countries 
which he visited, I would say, that he is a writer 
of veracity in his description of what he saw, but of 
credulity in his relations of what he heard. 

But there are still other causes which have con- 
tributed to perplex Homers history. As the first 
poets took liberties with regard to the Trojan war, 
so their brother artists adopted variations which 
helped to puzzle that story. Polvgnotus, who 
studied the poets, and took his subjects from the 
Trojan war, did not always follow Homer: nor do 
we find, that his account of things has been scrupu- 
lously adhered to in some of the ancient pieces of 
sculpture, where the subjects of the Iliad and 
Odyssey are represented. As to the poetry, paint- 
ing, and sculpture of the Romans, I cannot think 
that they are sufficient authority for Trojan sub- 
jects. There is no reason to believe, that Virgil 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 117 

had ever been at Troy ; and though he is so great 
an admirer, and so constant an imitator of Homer's 
poetical beauties, it does not appear that he con- 
sidered him as an historian, or geographer, or paid 
much attention to that accuracy, which is the sub- 
ject of our present inquiry. Tryphiodorus, Colu- 
thus, and some others, are still of less weight; and 
when we meet with facts related by them, and not 
mentioned by Homer, they deserve attention only 
so far, as those writers might have seen ancient 
authors, who are no longer to be found. Nor are 
Dares Phrygius, or Dictys-Cretensis worthy con- 
sideration in any other light, than as forgeries of an 
age when they might have had an opportunity of 
collecting some minute circumstances from books, 
which are now lost. The Roman poets took great 
liberties with the Greek mythology and the heroic 
history. This is remarkable in Ovid, who worked 
up those subjects into a system, which, from its 
connexion, and the fanciful additions which he has 
made, is considered as the most complete; and being 
first put into our hands, is that which we are most 
acquainted with: for the general custom of learn- 
ing Latin before Greek, forms our ideas more upon 
the Roman mythology. Were Homer the first poet 
taught in our schools, it would be easier to separate 
his mythology from the fable of latter times. Since 
the religion of Greece and Rome has been consi- 
dered speculatively by ingenious writers among the 
moderns, who look for deep meaning in every thing 
that the ancients have left us, they have generally 
adopted, what best suited the purpose of their sys- 
tem, according to the more or less favourable ideas 
they had formed of the wisdom of antiquity. It is 
curious to observe what notions were propagated on 
this head upon the revival of letters, when a tincture 



118 ON THE ORIGINAL 

of ancient fable and heroic history was received 
through Italian and French translation. We find 
in q Shakspeare, who drew from those sources, an 
account of the Trojan story, collected from various 
quarters, and a mixture of heroic and Gothic my- 
thology, made up of the traditions of different au- 
thorities and different ages. 

Such are the adulterations, which both Homer's 
Fable and History have undergone. It is difficult 
to relieve him from the load of contradictions, with 
which his successors have embarrassed this matter; 
but we may separate his own consistent story ; and, 
in matters of this obscurity, we may venture to call 
that the most authentic. 

What I have collected with this view, from the 
Iliad and Odyssey, may be ranged under a chrono- 
logical order, consisting of three periods. 

The first, anterior to the departure of the Greeks 
from Aulis, will draw the line between Homer's 
Mythology and History. This will take in the tra- 
ditions of the gigantic race which ended in Eury- 
medon ; the accounts of the Centaurs and Lapithfte : 
of Ixion and Perithous; of Belierophon, Perseus, 
Theseus and Hercules; an account of the Calydo- 
nian boar; the Theban wars; and the causes and 
preparations for the siege of Troy. 

The next period commences with the sailing of 
the Greeks for Troy; relates the operations of al- 
most ten years' siege, or rather blockade of that city, 
including the principal action of the Iliad, and end- 
ing with the demolition of the town. 

The third period begins with that specimen of the 
whole, which I have already given. It contains the 

« See Farmer upon Shakspeare's learning. 
See Bernier and Fourmont. Argouautic Expedition. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 119 

dispersions, various misfortunes, and different esta- 
blishments of the Greeks, Trojans, and auxiliaries, 
and brings us down to Homer's history of his own 
times. It may throw light on theiEolic, Ionic, and 
other migrations ; and afford some conjectures with 
regard to the origin of Greek Arts, Manners, and 
Language. 

As the principal action of the Iliad takes in no 
part of the first period, and very little of the second ; 
and as that of the Odyssey employs a still less por- 
tion of the third; the Poet has interspersed the 
several facts, which are prior or posterior to the du- 
ration of either poem, which he marks with the 
greatest precision, and yet so happily as to produce 
variety, without injury to that chronological order, 
of which I find them susceptible, when collected 
and arranged, so far as I have hitherto made the 
experiment. To avoid anachronism, it was neces- 
sary, that the later events of the last period should 
be predicted. Among these we find the destruction 
of Mycenae/ the demolition of the Greek fortifica- 
tions, the succession of iEneas and his family to the 
kingdom of Troy, &c. As this last event has been 
strongly controverted by succeeding writers, it may 
be necessary to do the Poet justice in a point, which 

r Mycenae. I do not mean, that Homer necessarily alluded to 
the destruction of Argos, Sparta, and Mycenae in A. v. 53. and 
still less do I suppose with Eustathius, and some other Commen- 
tators, that he means there to prophesy about the destruction of 
those towns, which happened after the Poet's time. If Homer is 
to be considered as an historian, as Virgil is ; the destruction, 
which he has left upon record of these towns, must be that, which 
happened soon after the time of Agamemnon. 

Mera ra Tpajuca Aya/if/xvovog ap^T/c Xv^eiarjg. — Strabo. 

This being upon the return of the Heraclidae, coincides with what 
we suppose to have been the age of Homer. 



120 ON THE ORIGINAL 

affects him as much in his historical capacity, as 
those supposed mistakes, with regard to the coast 
of Egypt, and the situation of Pharos (which we 
have attempted to set right), injured him in his geo- 
graphical character. We shall, at present, confine 
our further consideration of Homer, as an Historian, 
to his justification in this particular. 

It may appear strange at this time to dispute the 
voyage of iEneas to Italy; a fact upon which the 
origin of the Roman empire is so generally founded, 
which Livy takes for granted, which Dionysius of 
Halicarnassus pretends to have so fully proved, and 
which has gained such universal credit for so many 
ages. I might defend myself from the imputation 
of either paradox or singularity, by a pretty long 
list of dissenting voices from those authorities, in 
which our veneration for Roman antiquity has so 
implicitly acquiesced. But if a confutation of that 
fact can be supported by reason and common sense, 
it will not want the parade of much learned quo- 
tation. 

I shall state the nature of the evidence on both 
sides of this question as succinctly as I can ; taking 
into consideration the arguments both for and against 
Homer's testimony; and I shall conclude with some 
observations upon Virgil's conduct, under the diffi- 
culties, which embarrassed the historical credit of 
his subject. 

But in order to form a tolerable idea either of the 
History or Geography of Troy, it is necessary to 
correct a mistake, which has long contributed to 
the misrepresentation of both, by confounding the 
Phrygians with the Trojans. We found ancient 
geography no where more perplexed, than in our 
travels through Phrygia. This intricacv rise< chiefly 
from a very early inattention to the different exteol 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 121 

of that country at different times, so that its doubtful 
limics became proverbial. It may be difficult to 
remove tbe impressions which we receive on this 
head from ancient authors, particularly from one 
so familiar to us, so much and so justly admired, 
and so thoroughly acquainted with Homer, as 
Virgil. He not only represents the Trojans and 
Phrygians as the same people, but confounds the 
ancient and modern character of the latter; how 
improperly, the reader will judge from the follow- 
ing observations, by which I hope to ascertain 
Homer's sense of this matter. 

1. When Helen, upbraiding Venus as the cause 
of her misfortunes, asks tbe goddess, what other 
favourite she has to indulge at her expense, and if 
she means to lead her farther to some city of Phry- 
gia or Mrconia, she of course distinguishes those 
countries from the Troade. 2. When Hector com- 
plains that the wealth of Troy is carried to Phrygia 
and Maeonia, it impMes the same distinction. 3. In 
a description of the extent and boundaries of Priam's 
country, it is expressly distinguished from Phrygia. 
4. The Phrygians are numbered among the Trojan 
auxiliaries in the Catalogue; and are described as 
living at a distance. 5. Priam mentions his having 
formerly visited their country. (3, and lastly, The 
plot of the story of Venus and Anchises, in the hymn 
to Venus (which both Lucretius and Virgil seem to 
have admired), turns chiefly upon this difference of 
the two countries : the scene is on Mount Ida; where 
the goddess is represented as personating a Phry- 
gian girl, and passes with Anchises for the daughter 
of Atreus, king of that country. She invents a story 
of the manner of her coming from Phrygia to Troy, 
and describes the variety of country she passed over 
in her way. But that her language may not betray 



122 ON THE ORIGINAL 

her (which, according to her assumed character 
should be Phrygian), she acquaints him, that she 
was brought up by a Trojan nurse, who taught her 
the language of Troy, which was as familiar to her 
as that of her own country. 

From the passages, to which I have referred, I 
think we may conclude, that, at the time of the Tro- 
jan war, Phrygia and Troy were distinct countries, 
governed by princes independent of each other, and 
using different languages. How soon and by what 
means the distinction was lost, is not certain ; pro- 
bably soon after the Trojan war, at least, before the 
time of the tragic writers, who, as 'Strabo observes, 
confound those names. There is a wretched piece 
of wit of Mnesilochus preserved, which plays upon 
the Synonymous term of Phrygian and Trojan. 

Here I should observe, that the proofs which es- 
tablish this distinction, deprive me of one of the mod 
favourite arguments of a very powerful advocate for 
Homer's account of iEneas. Bochart having, with 
much learned pains, demonstrated a total want of 
affinity between the Roman and Phrygian lan-uam, 
concludes, that it is incredible that one of those na- 
tions should be desceuded from the other ; because, 
says he, there never was an instance of a colony, 

6 Strabo, 1. xii. p. 849. 

1 It was supposed that Euripides was obliged to Socrates for as- 
sisting him in his Tragedies. When his TROES appeared, Mne- 
silochus, in one of his comic pieces, observed, that Socrates had 
supplied fuel to kindle the fire of that play: and instead of Tpw*c, 
he calls it <t>ovye£, for the sake of jingle in the word, and a N 
blance to <bpvyiov and 4>pt/ycuw, which >ignified dry wood, such as 
a fire is lighted with. 

OPlTee' £<m tcaivov ctpctjua tolt" 1 

'ill kcii HioKparfjg ra WYFANA brort?T]<ri. 

The true reading is, 
'Sit ^.bjKpaTTjs fiey viroTi^ijat ppvyuiu. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 123 

that did not retain, if not the whole, at least some 
traces of the language of the mother-country. 

This remark is certainly just; but how little ap- 
plicable to the present case, is unnecessary to ob- 
serve, if the passages I have produced from Homer 
have convinced the reader, that iEneas was not a 
Phrygian. The argument, which he draws from 
that well-established fact, viz. That the favourite 
gods of Troy were not worshipped at Rome, is more 
to the purpose, and, I think, unanswerable. 

That iEneas and liis descendants reigned over the 
Trojans, after the Greeks had destroyed the capital 
of their country, is a fact for which we have Homer's 
authority ; and the manner in which this is expressed 
in the Iliad, would incline us to suppose, that the 
Poet lived to see the great grandchildren of iEneas. 
This is a circumstance of such perfect indifference 
either to the general plan, or any particular embel- 
lishment, of his poem, that he had not the least 
temptation to depart from the common received 
opinion on this head. Besides, to deceive in such a 
case would have been as difficult, as it was useless; 
for when Homer produced the Iliad, this event was 
neither a matter of antiquity or obscurity, but noto- 
rious, either as true or false, to his contemporaries. 
He lived in the neighbourhood of Troy, and ad- 
dressed himself to competent judges of the fact. 
We cannot suppose, that he would, so wantonly 
prostitute his veracity, as to expose unmeaning false 
hood to the obvious conviction of every reader of 
his own age and country. 

Nor do we find, that this account of the Trojan 
succession was controverted, till the Romans thought 
fit to derive their origin from Troy; a matter in 
which we know the vanity of that nation was much 
concerned. Yet the support of this pretension rests 



124 ON THE ORIGINAL 

entirely on Roman authority, which is not only lia- 
ble to just suspicion, as having an interest in the 
fact it would establish; but, if we lay aside that con- 
sideration, it amounts to no degree of evidence; for 
the people who deduce a remote origiu, upon the au- 
thority of their own annals alone, are entitled to no 
more credit, than the person, who should pretend to 
relate the circumstances of his birth, and give a 
jou-nal of his infancy, merely from his own recollec- 
tion. 

But however freely we ma) treat this imaginary 
voyage now, it would have been imprudent to have 
expressed doubts upon so tender a point at Rome, 
in the reign of Augustus: and *his general prejudice 
in favour of the subject sufficiently recommended it 
to the Poet's choice. The more we enter into the 
state of things, when he wrote, the posture of the 
Roman affairs, the reigning opinions, civil and reli- 
gious, both of the prince and people, and the pre- 
cise relation in which the Poet stood, as well with 
regard io the whole, as to some individuals, the more 
we shall think him peculiarly happy in that choice. 
Indeed, to those who do not enter into those parti- 
culars, many of the beauties of the iEneid are I 
for the Roman Poet abounds in pertinent and eleg 
allusion to his own times, always introduced with 
strict propriety, and conducted with great judgment. 
Whatever Homer might have had of this sort, for 
readers of his own age, is buried in oblivion with the 
circumstances of his life. And, considering the dif- 
ferent genius of the Poets, and of the ages when they 
lived, we ought not to expect from Homer, and the 
heroic times (could we know them better), any share 
of that artful and refined compliment, which i< the 
particular excellence of the most polished writer oi 
the Augustan age. The Greek Poet, less courtly. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 125 

therefore more natural, whose philosophy acknow- 
ledged no sect, and whose politics knew no party, 
ever aims at original resemblance in his pictures, 
with an impartiality, which h : s patriotism did not 
bias, and to which, perhaps, his moral gave way. 
For in the great variety of the Iliad and Odyssey, I 
see no complimentary preference to his countrymen, 
aud not one perfect character set Dp as a model for 
imitation. Now, should it be alleged, tnat he has 
followed truth and Nature, both as to facts and 
characters, too closely, for what has been since laid 
down as the ultimate ooject of the Epic plan, viz. 
the instruction and reformation of mankind, surely 
this is much in his favour as an historian. 

But, though Virgil found the voyage of his Hero 
sufficiently established in the minds of a people 
credulously predisposed towards this favourite ob- 
ject of national prejudice; he appears to have been 
very cautious of endangering its credit, by departing 
from any of the prevailing popular traditions, which 
related to that event. And though the obscurity and 
contradiction, in which the incidents of this sup- 
posed migration were involved, gave him scope in 
the choice of his materials, he made a very sparing 
use of it; for he seldom ventures to introduce an 
extraordinary circumstance, that we cannot trace to 
some previous authority ; and he gives some things 
a place in his poem, for which we can see no temp- 
tation, but their contributing to support the truth of 
his subject. 

The divine mission of his Hero offers a ready so- 
lution of many of the objections to his establish- 
ment in Italy ; and is made responsible for all the 
absurdity and injustice, with which his enemies so 
naturally charge that undertaking. Auguriis agi- 
mur Divmn is the short account he gives of the de- 



126 ON THE ORIGINAL 

sertion of his own country ; and much the same apo- 
logy is made to Latinus for the invasion of his. 
This language is adapted with great propriety to the 
grand purpose of the Poet; who insinuating to a vain 
and superstitious people a favourable idea of a late 
change of government, artfully conciliates reverence 
and respect to the common origin and connected 
interests of their civil and religious constitution; and 
with this view the pious duties of faith, resignation, 
and obedience, are highly finished in the character 
of his predestined hero. 

But though the established religion and public 
annals of Rome seemed to have tolerably well se- 
cured the credit of a fact, which the emperor's ■ 
vanity was eager to encourage, and popular pre- 
judice not less zealous to support; yet Virgil did 
not care to trust impartial posterity with Homer's 
short accouut of this matter, and discovers ihe most 
genuine compliment to the Greek Poet's historical 
character, in a sly evasion of its authority ; for he 
adopts the passage from the Iliad, and by changing 
a syllable in one word, he converts the strongest 
voucher against the voyage of iEneas, into a pro- 
phetic testimony in its favour/ 

It was still necessary to soften another striking 
objection, to which the Hero's settlement in Italy 

u This vanity was strongly marked in Julius Ca?sar, who is made 
to say of himself, by Suetonius, " A Venere Julii, cujus gentis fa- 
milia est nostra." § 6. 

* (UANte(T(tiv for TPIWffir), Whether Virgil was the author of 
this pious fraud, or adopted it from others, is immaterial ; I am 
rather inclined to the first of those conjectures, for reasons which 
I shall lay before the classical reader, if he thinks this note worth 
his perusal. The text, in all the manuscripts hitherto disco- 
vered, stands thus ; 

Nvv Be hj Aiveiao (3uj TPHEISIN ara; f() 

Kcu waideg 7rai£w>', rot Key ^eroTriade ycriayrac II. xx. 307. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 127 

was liable. The colony he was said to have con- 
ducted and established there, retained no marks of 
their Trojan origin ; nor did the descendants of those 
conquerors preserve the least remains of the man- 
ners, customs, language, or even name, of their sup- 
posed ancestors, at the same time that they differed 
greatly from them, both in the modes and objects of 
their worship. 

The Romans would perhaps, of all nations, be 
least sensible of the force of this objection: as no 
people was ever less bigoted to their own manners, 
or more apt to adopt those of their conquered ene- 
mies. Yet Virgil saw, that so very unnatural a 
neglect of the mother-country, and so unaccountable 
a compliment to the inhabitants of a new conquest, 
could not pass unnoticed ; he therefore closes the 
poem with the following piece of machinery, per- 
fectly well calculated for a solution of those diffi- 
culties. 

As Turnus and iEneas are preparing for the final 
decision by single combat, Jupiter makes a conci- 
liating overture to Juno, and expostulates with her 

Strabo says, that those who apply this passage to the Romans ; 
write it thus : 

Ni/v <)e 2tj Aiveiao yevog FIANTEI2IN avafyt; 

Which Virgil translates, 

Hie domus iEneae cunctis dominabitur oris. 

This correction was therefore suggested, in order to reconcile 
Homer to the Roman History. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, who 
has been at most pains to support the Trojan origin of Rome, taking 
these Hues of Homer into consideration, mentions no such reading. 
We may therefore with probability suppose it to have been thought 
of after Dionysius and before Strabo. This period coincides with 
Virgil's time of writing the iEneid, and at that time precisely the 
Roman conquests authorized a correction of the text, which pro- 
phesied their becoming masters of the world. 



128 ON THE ORIGINAL 

upon the inutility of endless opposition to the de- 
crees of Fate, 

" Quae jam finis erit, conjux? quid denique restat ? 
Indigitem iEneam^scis ipsa, et scire fateris, 
Deberi coelo, fatisque ad sic'era tolli. 
Quid struis?&c." 

He then entreats her to desist; and first putting 
her in mind of the unhappy lengths, to which her 
passion had been already indulged, he concludes 
with a concise and positive injunction to proceed 
no farther; 

" Ulterius tentare veto." 

The goddess, who could retard, but not control, 
the wid of Jove, answers submissively, apologizes 
for her past conduct, and promises to renounce the 
cause. But in return she requests 

" Ne vetus indigeuas nonien niutare Latinos, 
NeuTroas fieri jubeas, Teucrosque vocari, 
Aut voces mutare viros, aut vertere vestes," &c. 

Jupiter grants her petitions, and declares, 

" Sermonem Ausonii patrium, moresque tenebunt ; 
Utque est, nomen erit : commixti corpore tantum 
Subsident Teucri : niorera ritusque sacrorum 
Adjiciam ; faciamque omnes uno ore Latinos," &C 

Here we see, that the Poet is obliged to have re- 
course to a decree of Jupiter to account Tor ihe waut 
of affinity between the language, manners, names, 
and religions, rites, and ceremonies of Troy and 
Rome. But he had still other difficulties to en- 
counter. The iEneid is like the Iliad, full of ma- 
chinery : and Virgil's imitation of Homer in this 
particular lay under two very great disadvantages. 
The first of these, of which we have before takeu 
notice, was, that the scenery of Homer's mythology 
was fixed in Greece, and adapted to the action of 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 129 

the Iliad. The second was, that the parts, which 
the dramatis personae of this mythology acted in the 
Trojan story, were arranged not exactly in the man- 
ner most suitable to the purpose of Virgil. For he 
is by these means deprived of the character in which 
Minerva appears with so much propriety in the 
Odyssey ; and is obliged to puthis pious legislative 
Hero under the protection of Venus. This goddess, 
though very fit to have the conduct of his affairs at 
Carthage, when he is carrying on an amour with 
Dido, was not so well qualified to promote his views 
in Italy, Dum conderet urbem, inferretque Deos 
Latio. Again, Juno having been employed in the 
Iliad as the inveterate enemy of Troy, takes an 
active part in the iEneid against the establishment 
of the Roman empire. It is true; the Poet derives 
from this the happiest allusions to some of the most 
interesting scenes in the Roman history. But surely 
her first appearance in this hostile character, at the 
opening of the poem, must have been an awkward 
circumstance; when Juno Romana was the favourite 
deity of Rome. 

Turn vos, O Tyrii, stirpem et genus omne futurum 
Exercete odiis ; cinerique haec mittite nostro 
Munera : nullus amor populis, nee foedera sunto. 
Exoriare aliquis nostris ex ossibus ultor, 
Qui face Dardanios ferroque sequare colonos ; 
Nunc, olim, quocunque dabunt se tempore vires. 

jEn. 1. iv. v. 622. 

It was not proper that the reader should wait for 
the unravelling of the plot to have this matter ex- 
plained ; he is therefore apprized in the first book, 
thatthis enmity of the goddess is to be converted 
into protection and regard ; and Jupiter promises, 

" Consiliain melius referet; mecumque fovebit 
Romanos rerum dominos, <&c." 

I 



130 ON THE ORIGINAL 

Accordingly, towards the conclusion of the last 
book this reconciliation is effected : 

" Annuit his Juno, et mentem laetata retorsit." 

The great point being thus settled, Turnus is killed, 
and the poem ends. 

From this digression on the conduct of the Ro- 
man Poet, with regard to the event which he chose 
for his subject, I would infer, that, notwithstand- 
ing the powerful prejudices of Rome in its favour, 
he was apprehensive of objections, which might be 
drawn as well from Homer's authority, as from the 
incredible singularity of a colony's retaining no 
traces of the names, language, dress, or religious 
rites, of their ancestors. 



HOMER'S CHRONOLOGY. 

There seems to have been nothing more extraor- 
dinary in the history of Grecian knowledge, than 
the various modes of computing time ; as they pre- 
vailed within a narrow compass, and among a peo- 
ple of the same religion and language. But this 
was long after the age of Homer, in which we dis- 
cover nothing like a formal calendar. His time is 
measured by the returns of the sun, moon, and sea- 
sons, of light and darkness, labour and rest; but we 
find no political distribution of it, no weeks, hours, 
or minutes, no allusion to dials, clepsydrae, or any 
other mode of computation known before the inven- 
tion of pendulums, the most exact of all chronome- 
ters. His day is subdivided by the occupations 
which convenience had allotted to the different 
parts of it in rude society; a mode of computation 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 131 

taken more from Nature than art, therefore more 
poetical than accurate. 

There was no stated era in Greece before that of 
the Olympiads; therefore no settled chronology. 
Nor was this science made use of to arrange and 
connect events in their due order of time, till after 
the writings, not only of their oldest, but of their 
most admired prose historians y had appeared : 
when I imagine the alphabet, though known before, 
was first applied to common use. The Chronicle 

y Pherecydes of Syros, and Cadmus of Miletus, supposed to 
have been the first prose writers, lived about 544 years before 
Christ. Acusilaiis of Argos, who, according to Suidas, wrote his 
genealogies from brazen tables, which had been found by his fa- 
ther, is placed near this time. We have none of their works, nor 
•of Epimenides, or Pherecydes of Athens, genealogists, who suc- 
ceeded them : nor of Hellanicus, who is placed about a hundred 
years after them. He regulated his chronology by the succession 
of the priestesses of Juno at Argos ; and must have been puzzled 
in reducing facts to order; as we may guess by his making Helen 
nine years old, when Theseus, who was fifty, carried her away. 
These are facts, of which, I believe, all that we shall ever know, is 
from Homer. I own, I was a little disappointed, when I found 
that beauty so far advanced in years, when at Troy, where so much 
blood was spilled for her sake : and was sorry to learn, that she 
had been acquainted with Hector for the space of twenty years. 
But if it was at all proper that this should be told, the Poet takes 
the best time for it. Hector is killed ; Helen grown old ; and what 
is worst of all, the poem near an end. 

Timseus of Sicily lived about this time; and attempted to com- 
pare and correct the dates of the Olympiads of the Spartan kings, 
the Athenian Archons, and of the priestesses of Juno, by one ano- 
ther ; and to reconcile the whole to the history, transmitted by the 
poets. When we consider, that this was the first attempt, that 
we know of, to establish an era ; and that it was in the hundred 
and twenty-ninth Olympiad, what are we to think of the preceding 
Greek chronology ? 

Eratosthenes lived about forty years after Timaeus. His calcula- 
tions are lost; but his epoques are preserved. See Sir Isaac 
Newton's Chronology. 

12 



132 ON THE ORIGINAL 

of Paros, that curious manuscript, which the Uni- 
versity of Oxford possesses, seems to be the ear- 
liest, as it is the most authentic, series of Greek dates 
upon record. But the author of that collection, 
who appears not to have lived above two hundred 
and sixty-five years before the commencement of the 
Christian era, takes no notice of the Olympiads. 
And, though they were adopted by history about 
this time, we can scarce allow, that chronology was 
treated scientifically till the time of Eratosthenes. 
He first compared and corrected former calcula- 
tions and conjectures, and established epoques in 
Greece. 

I cannot help thinking, that it was unfortunate 
for letters, that the first among the ancients, who 
undertook to range the facts of Greek history in. 
that order which was adopted by succeeding his- 
torians, did not take Homer into his consideration. 
Whether this ingenious philosopher, who lived at a 
time, when the Poet was the object of much blind 
admiration, might not have been disgusted at the 
idle compliments paid to his science, we cannot 
pretend to say : but he certainly took more pains 
to expose Homer's ignorance, than it is easy to 
account for otherwise. The respectable authori- 
ties to which we have appealed in the preceding 
section, as vouchers for his facts, may, with equal 
propriety, be called in evidence, for the order of 
time in which he has placed them : and the early 
chronology of the Greeks must be drawn from the 
same source which has furnished the first events in 
their history. 

May I venture to add, that it is also to be re- 
gretted, that Newton, the ornament of our country 
and of this age, when he took Eratosthenes and the 
Greek Chronology into consideration, should not 



GENIUS OF HOMER. ' 133 

have consulted our Poet? Had the relaxations of 
■ that great man from more severe and important 
studies permitted him to consider Homer in the 
light we have attempted to place him, I am per- 
suaded it would have given him so different an opi- 
nion of the heroic state of arts, that he would not 
have taken Chiron, or his daughter Hippo, for prac- 
tical astronomers, upon such slight authority, or 
have supposed, that, before the siege of Troy, the 
Greeks had either instruments fit to take an ob- 
servation, or science to make a proper use of them. 
On the other hand, he would have found Homer's 
authority favourable to his limited idea of Greek 
antiquity : for, notwithstanding the pains which have 
been taken to shew the Poet's partiality to his coun- 
trymen, he left nothing on record that could flatter 
the Grecian vanity upon this head. He might have 
drawn great assistance from him in support of that 
part of his system, which contracts the distance of 
time between the Argonautic expedition and the 
siege of Troy. He would indeed have seen the 
whole Homeric history, antecedent to this last epoch, 
contained in a very narrow compass, not going much 
farther back than the birth of Nestor: but he would 
also have seen that short period so full of consistent 
facts, that, with whatever degree of poetical exagge- 
ration they have been magnified, the circumstantial 
connexion of the whole is too well ascertained, not 
to shew that they were founded in events, which 
had already the sanction of general tradition : and 
had acquired some share of credit, before the Poet's 
embellishment gave them a portion of fame; which 
they owe more to his genius, than their own impor- 
tance. 

With regard to Homer's age (a matter of as much 
obscurity, as his country), if we be allowed to form 



134 ON THE ORIGINAL 

conjectures upon this head from his writings, we 
may suppose, that he was born not long after the 
siege of Troy : and had finished both his poems 
about half a century after the town was taken. That, 
as the first interesting stories he heard, were, when 
a boy, of the exploits performed there ; so in his 
riper years he had still an opportunity of conversing 
with the old men, who had been engaged in it: that 
their immediate descendants were his contempo- 
raries : that he knew their grandchildren ; and saw 
the birth of their great-grandchildren, which made 
the fourth generation from iEneas. It is true this 
makes the birth of Homer prior to the Ionic migra- 
tion, which Thucydides places eighty years after 
the siege of Troy : in which there is no solid objec- 
tion. We know, that there were Ionians in Asia, 
before a colony of that name was brought thither. 
To this there is no allusion in the Iliad or Odyeu 
and we may as well derive the name of Ionian, as 
we find it written in z Homer, from Javeon, the son 
of Japhet, as from Ion, the son of Xuthus. 

I have already observed, that it would have been 
both difficult and useless for him to have forged that 
account of the family of iEneas, from which I draw 
this conjecture with regard to his own age; nor do 
I believe any testimony can be produced, of equal 
authority with this passage of the Iliad, for placing 
him nearer the Trojan war. The reasons why I am 
induced to fix him precisely to that, rather than to 
any later period, are these : first, the succession of 
the great-grandchildren of JEneas to the kingdom of 
Troy is the latest fact that he has left upon record. 
The JEolian migration would probably disturb that 
very generation in their possessions : which I there- 
fore suppose the Poet did not live to see. In the 
I The appellation of Iaor* c in Homer's Iliad, X. v. 680. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 135 

next place, it is the character, indeed I may venture 
to say it is among the faults of Homer, to be mi- 
nutely descriptive. He frequently introduces super- 
fluous circumstances of mere precision, rather than 
leave his object vague and uncircumscribed ; even 
where a general view of it would have done as well, 
or perhaps better. In short, his genius for imita- . 
tion, and his love of truth, seem to carry him too far 
into the province of painting ; of which one parti- 
cular privilege is, to be minute and circumstantial, 
without becoming dull or tedious. I am therefore 
inclined to think, that, though the time we allude to 
will, at any period after the birth of his grandchil- 
dren, be applicable to the posterity of iEneas, the 
Poet might have in view that particular generation 
for the descendants of those, who fought at Troy, 
with whom he lived and conversed, and who are so 
distinctly pointed out by this passage, taken in the 
literal sense. Thirdly, His picture of society agrees 
best with that early stage of it. Those, who bring 
down Homer as low as a Lycurgus (I fancy, be- 
cause the idea of an interview between two such 
personages has something pleasing in it), do not 
consider, that such a Poet and such a Legislator do 

a It is dangerous to truth, when great men, for want of better 
materials, catch at any plausible conjecture ; to which their ad- 
mirers give more credit than they intended ; as for instance : In 
the temple of Jupiter at Elis, there was a disque with the name of 
Lycurgus inscribed upon it; therefore, says Aristotle, this lawgiver 
was contemporary with Iphitus, and the first Olympiad. But, says 
Newton, Aristotle did not consider that the Quinqu6rtium, of which 
the disque was one game, was not established till the eighteenth 
Olympiad. But may we not ask both Aristotle and Sir Isaac New- 
ton, upon what authority they suppose this to have been the Law- 
giver's disque? for the name of Lycurgus was common long before 
the Spartan was born, and we find it in Homer, II. Z. v. 130. H. 
v. 142. 



136 ON THE ORIGINAL 

not properly belong to the same state of manners. 
And lastly, his account of persons, and facts, could 
not have passed through many hands; for his man- 
ner, not only of describing actions and characters, 
but of drawing portraits, looks very much, as if he 
had been either present, or at least had taken his 
information from eye-witnesses. 

I should not presume to oppose this reasoning to 
historical authority, did I not proceed upon these 
grounds, that, where the whole is so much conjec- 
ture, we may offer what appears most plausible. 
But as this is the best account that I can get from 
Homer of himself, so it is the only one that I find 
in history. We learn from Herodotus, that the Poet 
became the guest of Mentor, who was personally 
acquainted with Ulysses. 

It may be here requisite that 1 take some notice 
of the ancient life of Homer, handed down to us, 
and ascribed to Herodotus, as I differ from many 
upon this subject. The life of Homer is supposed 
by several not to be the genuine production of that 
historian. Mr. Pope and Dr. Parnel (for they 
were both concerned in the Essay) wonder that it 
should be ascribed to him, as it evidently contradicts 
his own history. They say, that it is an unsupported 
minute treatise, and of small estimation. 

I cannot help differing greatly from this respect- 
able authority in my opinion of the work. That the 
events are unsupported is true: and we may add, 
that they are often trivial and minute. But this 
does not induce me to think, that they were not col- 
lected by Herodotus, who was born in the Poet's 
neighbourhood; and would naturally wish to put 
together all the traditions of his life, which he could 
learn upon this coast. And as it is impossible to 
imagine a collection of circumstances, which have 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 137 

less the appearance of fiction, 1 do not see why we 
should not suppose, that this was the last and most 
probable account, the historian could get. As for 
the observation, that they belong to the lowest sphere 
in life, I fear, it is suggested by modern distinctions 
of rank, unknown in those times. When we are 
told, by way of depreciating this written life, That 
it is conducted by the spirit of a grammarian ; that 
there is nothing in it above the life which a gram- 
marian might lead himself: nay, that it is such a 
one as they commonly do lead, the highest stage of 
which is to be master of a school ; we are treated 
with objections which arise much more out of a 
knowledge of modern than ancient times. The 
character of a grammarian was unknown not only 
to Homer, but to Herodotus : and when it did ap- 
pear, was much more respectable, than of late ; 
when, by an easy transition, it is connected with 
the name of schoolmaster, as in the present case, 
and conveys very false ideas of the state of know- 
ledge and learning. Of the same sort is the stric- 
ture upon the extempore verses of this treatise: 
which, far from being an argument against it, I take 
to be the most genuine mark of the age, to which it 
pretends. When in a written composition, the dis- 
tinction of verse and prose was of a short standing ; 
what we here called extempore verses, which are so 
often interspersed in the works of Herodotus, and 
the oldest of the Greek writers, I suppose to have 
been quotations from that period of knowledge 
previous to the common use of writing, when prose 
was confined to conversation, and all compositions 
were in metre, that they might be more easily 
remembered. 

However, our subject leads us rather to consider 



138 ON THE ORIGINAL 

the agreement between the action of the Iliad, and 
the time it employs, than the Poet's age, or the 
chronological order of those pieces of ancient his- 
tory, which he has inserted in different parts of his 
Poem : and I have already ventured to say, that, if 
we examine that Iliad, as a journal of the siege of 
Troy, stripped of its poetical embellishments, we 
shall find it, in general* a consistent narrative of 
events, related according to the circumstances of 
time and place, when and where they happened : 
our map of Troy is proposed as the truest test of 
this matter. 

The action of the Iliad is limited to a number of 
days, twenty of which pass before the armies en- 
gage, four in battles, one in burying the dead, and 
one in building the fortifications: the remaining 
days are chiefly employed in the mourning and 
funeral rites of Patroclus and Hector. As the ac- 
tion is more animated and interesting, his time is 
more minutely marked and divided ; though he is 
extremely exact in marking time as a circumstance 
of truth, which gives probability to his description. 
He is indifferent about any other duration for his 
action, than that which tradition had assigned it : 
indeed, the strongest mark of his original character 
is seen in the manner, in which he treats the cir- 
cumstances of time and place. For, while he is ac- 
curate and consistent with regard to both, it is only 
by particular examination, that we make this disco- 
very. And it seems never to have entered into his 
head to give a map of Troy, or a journal of the 
siege; they are taken for granted, and as things 
already known. Had this been his view, he has exe- 
cuted it to very little purpose; for I will venture 
to say, that Bossu, Pope, Dacier, &c. are mistaken 






GENIUS OF HOMER. 139 

as to his time; nor has his scene of action been 
minutely examined or tolerably understood by any 
writer, I know of, Strabo excepted. 

This exactness extends to his machinery, and in 
order to do it justice, we must take his gods into the 
dramatis personae : it is also as remarkable by 
night as by day ; and the same rule is observed of 
marking the circumstance of time and place with 
more precision, as the action is more interesting. 
The journey of Priam and the aged herald to the 
tent of Achilles, and the excursion of Ulysses and 
Diomede to the Trojan camp, are beautiful in- 
stances of this. And here let ine observe, that the 
severest struggle for victory happening on the day 
after those nocturnal exploits of Ulysses and Dio- 
mede, they could not be well absent on so interesting 
an occasion, when the whole was at stake; yet they 
do not make their appearance, till they had found 
time for that repose, which the extraordinary 
fatigues of the preceding night made necessary; 
and till the fortune of the day took that critical 
turn, which called for their appearance. 

I must own, it requires great patience to acquire 
a distinct idea of the days of battle : the reader is 
hurried with a rapidity, which does not admit of 
cool observation, through scenes of bloodshed and 
slaughter; and though his eye is now and then 
caught by a detached groupe, or single figure, he 
admires it separately, without seeing its connexion 
with the whole composition. I have already ob- 
served the advantage which painting has over poeti- 
cal imitation, in conveying clear and distinct ideas, 
by the help of minute circumstances : yet even in the 
best painted battle-piece this distinct expression is 
confined to a few principal figures in the fore- 
ground. But, without entering into any apology 



140 ON THE ORIGINAL 

for Homer (which I think even the rough manners 
of his age cannot furnish), I will venture to say, that 
his descriptions of this sort become less tedious 
and more interesting, as we become more acquainted 
with the time and place of the action. 

As to that propriety, with which his times and 
seasons are, in general, adapted to his facts, it will 
appear through this history, when it comes to be 
extended in the manner above proposed. The de- 
tention of the Greeks at Aulis, and of Menelaus at 
Pharos, will fall in with the season of the Etesians; 
which produce the same effects in the same places, 
and at the same time of the year, to this day. \\\ 
contrary to some opinions, I open the Iliad in sum- 
mer, it is, because it corresponds with the operations 
of the tenth year of the siege, which are the subject 
of the Poem; and because, in a marshy situation, 
like that of Troy, unwholesome at this day in the hot 
season, nothing could be more probable and natu- 
ral than the fever of a crowded camp, when the >mi 
was most powerful : and this 1 take to have been the 
plague which Apollo sent among the Greeks. If I 
reject the opinion of those who suppose, that the 
town was taken in spring; it is, because they are 
contradicted by various passages in the Iliad. And 
although we should allow Virgil, or Petronius (who 
are called in aid upon this occasion), to be sufficient 
authority in such a case, still it will not operate in 
their favour; for though they suppose the town 
taken about the full moon, this does not decide the 
season of the year; b and as ^Sneas sails, according 

b Homer tells us at the opening of the Poem, that nine vears 
were completed, and that the tenth was begun. If we suppose 
this to ha?e been only Gamelion, the first month of the Attic Year, 
it will agree with Homer; and the deteution at Aulis, and the 
plague, will fall in this month. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 141 

to Virgil, the very beginning of the summer, we 
cannot suppose, that he could cut down his timber, 
and build a fleet of twenty ships, in a few days. 
But if we allow him the winter for that purpose, 
his operations will agree with probability and 
Homer. 

But if, laying aside the history of iEneas, and the 
anachronism of Dido, we examine the subordinate 
events of the Greek and Roman Poets, stripping 
them of their poetical dress, we shall find more nar- 
rative, precision, and consistence in the first; and 
that the action of the ^Eneid, though less varied by 
incidents, than that of the Iliad or Odyssey, is not 
so naturally connected by probable circumstances. 

As to its duration, notwithstanding all the com- 
mentators have said to clear it up, it remains vague 
and unsettled, I fear, contradictory. For iEneas 
arrives at Carthage in the seventh summer of his 
voyages ; and the next year he solemnizes the fu- 
neral games in Sicily, in the seventh year after the 
destruction of Troy. If he is right in the first cal- 
culation, he must be at least a year mistaken in the 
last. 

Nor is a want of distinct chronology the only 
defect in the account of iEneas's voyages. If we 
examine them with a view to that chain of consistent 
circumstances, which are as essential to poetical as 
historical truth, we shall be disappointed. Cas- 

The commencement of the Attic year is very material to our pur- 
pose ; as it will authenticate our position, as it began at the end of 
autumn. But will it not be best to see, what was the most mate- 
rial division of the Grecian year, and suppose this to have been 
the year alluded to by Homer, though not yet reduced to the pre- 
cision of the civil year? This was variously constituted among the 
different states of Greece. If this variety existed in Homer's time, 
why should we suppose him to adopt one year more than another 1 

See Casini for the commencement of the Attic vear. 



142 ON THE ORIGINAL 

sandra had laid open to Anchises the destination 
of his family for Italy. It is pointed out to iEneas 
in various manners, but most explicitly foretold by 
Creiisa's ghost ; who not only informs him, that he 
is to go to Italy, but describes the part of it, where 
he is to reign. Yet, in a few lines after, we see the 
Trojans embark, without knowing where to go. 
iEneas turns his back upon this promised land, and 
sails for Thrace; which, though, in his neighbour- 
hood, he describes as a distant country. The con- 
trivance for his leaving it is forced, unnatural, and 
against history : and when he sails from thence to 
Delos, to get information with regard to what had 
been already explained, it is with a wind, which 
could not carry him thither. 

Should we proceed in examining the whole action 
of the iEneid in this manner, we might observe little 
inaccuracies of the same kind, which are not to be 
found so frequently in Homer. But the instances, 
I have produced in the course of this Essay, are 
sufficient to shew that difference of character in the 
compositions of those great Poets, which is the only 
object of this comparison; for I do not propose it 
as a test of their merit. Nor are they brought to- 
gether in the spirit of those commentators, who 
think they cannot advance the reputation of the 
one, but at the expense of the other. I consider 
Homer and Virgil, as the most perfect models, that 
any age or country has yet produced ; perhaps less 
different in their genius than their fortunes : for had 
Virgil written first, I doubt not but Homer would 
have copied him. Indeed, the importance of mere 
priority, if properly considered, will appear much 
greater, than we are apt to imagine. Those, who 
have observed, how small a part of mankind think 
for themselves, how much our tastes are formed 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 143 

upon authority, and governed by habit, must see 
the great advantage of getting into possession of 
universal, unbounded admiration. 

Though Homer was born with a genius, that must 
have figured, if not taken the lead, in any age; and 
wrote under greater advantages, than ever fell to 
the lot of any other poet; there is still a peculiar 
circumstance of mere good fortune, that attended 
his productions, to which they perhaps owe more 
reputation, than to their intrinsic value : viz. that 
they were presented to the golden age of letters, by 
the most acute and distinguishing genius of that or 
any other period ; who was in a great measure al- 
lowed to judge for the rest of the world, both in 
matters of taste and philosophy, for above two 
thousand years. 

Could I presume to oppose opinions which have 
been long respected, I should attempt to account 
for that chain of connected truth, which is more ob- 
servable in Homer than in Virgil, from the different 
objects, which those Poets had in view. That it 
was their intention, both to please and instruct, is 
not to be doubted : but in what degree these dif- 
ferent motives prevailed in each of them, when they 
did not coincide, has been much disputed. We 
have been told, that Homer's great object was, to 
make mankind, and particularly his countrymen, 
wiser and better ; that the Iliad, in which he teaches 
the blessings of order and union, and the mischiefs 
of ambition and discord, is in this view addressed 
to the whole Greek confederacy ; and that, in the 
Odyssey he lays down the principles of political 
prudence for the use of each particular state. We 
have also heard much of those secrets of Nature, 
and that physical philosophy, which he is supposed 
to have wrapt up in allegory ; of that fertility of 



144 ON THE ORIGINAL 

imagination, which could clothe the properties of 
elements, the qualifications of the mind, the virtues 
and vices, in forms and persons, and introduce them 
into actions, agreeable to the nature of the things 
they shadowed/ 

I could wish, that those, who think so highly of 
the mysterious wisdom of the ancients, and take so 
much pains to explain their dark mode of convey- 
ing profound knowledge, would tell us, by what 
method they acquired it. I can easily conceive a 
connexion between mystery and falsehood or ig- 
norance ; but I do not see, what it has to do with 
truth or knowledge. 

When, therefore, I admit, that one of these Poets 
had a deeper purpose than the other, I differ totally 
from those, who give it to Homer, and consider the 
meaning of the iEneid, as more obvious, plain, and 
simple, than that of the Iliad or Odyssey. Nor 
can I help thinking (without offence to the father 
of criticism) that the Greek Poet found great part of 
his moral in his fable; and did not, like Virgil, in- 
vent a fable for his moral. If therefore, he only 
adorned the facts he took from history, they would 
naturally retain the same consistence in his com- 
positions, which they had already acquired in the 
opinion of the world : for it is the nature of oral 
tradition, the only mode of recording events then 
known, to magnify and embellish, rather than sup- 
press or pervert truth. But Virgil, who iutended a 
panegyric upon his prince, and a compliment to his 
country, looked for a fable most suitable to that 
plan. And we cannot do justice to his invention, 
without entering into the extent of his views, and 
the difficulties he had to encounter in carrying them 
into execution : for while he copied Nature through 

c See Pope's Essay on Homer. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 145 

Homer, he was to accommodate what he borrowed 
from both to the fortunes of Rome, and the charac- 
ter of Augustus. That this was his great object, 
he expressly declares, when he promises his JEneid 
to the world, and unfolds the plan of his poem. 

Such are the considerations I would offer to those, 
who are fond of comparing Homer and Virgil; not 
as a discouragement to our making such a compa- 
rison (which is curious and instructive, and affords, 
I think, the highest of all classical entertainment), 
but to shew the caution, with which we should 
proceed, in order to do justice to both Poets, and 
to explode that illiberal spirit of criticism, which 
has so much prevailed among commentators, that 
they are constantly complimenting the one, by find- 
ing fault with the other. 



HOMER'S 
LANGUAGE AND LEARNING. 

It is much to be regretted, that those, who are in 
other respects so well qualified to throw light on 
this part of our subject, by not taking into their con- 
sideration the Poet's age and manners, have not 
conceived a just idea of the genius and character of 
his language. Professed scholars, and critics in 
the Greek tongue, confine their observations prin- 
cipally to its state of perfection/ without consider- 

d This was not till after the Persian invasion, when the Greeks 
were roused to a sense of liberty, to which we may, in a great mea- 
sure, attribute more great actions and more elegant compositions 
than any other nation ever produced. The distinction of Greek 
and Barbarian was unknown to Homeland his supposed partiality 

K 



146 ON THE ORIGINAL 

ing how long Homer lived before that period. They 
complimented him for having enriched his language 
with the different dialects of Greece ; though the 
distinction of dialects can be only known to a cul- 
tivated, and, in some degree, settled state of lan- 
guage, as deviations from an acknowledged stan- 
dard. 6 — They point out his poetical licences ; for- 
getting that, in his time, there were no composi- 
tions in prose. — They settle his pronunciation by 
an alphabet f which he did not know, and by cha- 
racters he never saw. — For whatever credit his 
story of sixteen letters brought into Greece by 



to the former poems to have as little foundation as the political 
plan of his poem. But iEschylus, who fought at Marathon, Sala- 
mis, and Plataea ; Sophocles, who was also a soldier; and Euri- 
pides, who was born amidst the triumphs of his country for vic- 
tories obtained in defence of the rights of a free people, looked 
down upon the Asiatic character with a conscious dignity and su- 
periority, which, though it breathes through their writings, Homer 
never felt, and therefore could not express. Virgil did not attend 
to this distinction, and even the hero of the .Eneid lets slip 
some allusion to the term Barbarian, which is the effect of this 
negligence : 

" Quinquaginta illi thalami, spes tanta nepotum, 
Barbarico postesauro spoliisque superbi, 
Procubuere." .Ex. ii. 504. 

e Nor would it be judicious to employ them indifferently. The 
Bergamasc, Neapolitan, and Venetian dialects, do well on the Ita- 
lian stage in the mouths of Harlequino, Pulcinello, and Pantalone, 
but a Tuscan would never think of enriching his language by using 
them promiscuously in an epic poem. 

f Without entering into a debate, whether writing was in common 
use in the days of Homer; let us suppose it to have been familiar 
to him : yet the letters with which he was acquainted were few 
If they were the Cadmian ; they were all capitals: and there were 
no stops; and accents were of later introduction. And if we may 
judge from the Sigean inscription, the arrangement bv the manner 
of writing stated /Wrpo^or was different and embarrassed. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 147 

Cadmus may deserve, it is allowed, that the twenty- 
four letters of the Ionian alphabet were not in use 
till after Homer's time. — His prosody, 5 or musical 
expression, must have been soon corrupted ; for it 
is remarkable that the old chaste Greek melody 
was lost in refinement, before the other arts had 
acquired perfection. Could Homer have heard his 
poems sung or recited, even at the Panathenaean fes- 
tival, I dare say he would have been offended at the 
elegance, perhaps the affectation, of the Attic ac- 
cent and articulation; not to mention the various 
changes to which Greek pronunciation has been 
and is daily exposed. — I remember, when I was at 
Athens, that I sent for a Greek schoolmaster, and 
when we read the Iliad together, we could not bear 
each other's manner of pronunciation. I make no 
doubt but Homer would have been as much at a 
loss to understand his own works, read by us, as 
we were to understand one another. 

History cannot point out a period, when the lan- 
guage of Greece, like that of Rome, and of most 
other countries, was confined to a single state, or 
community. In what proportion it was original ; 
or of foreign extraction ; in what degree a Northern 
or Oriental mixture entered into its composition, or 
which part of the Greek continent, or islands, gave 
it birth, and first distinguished it by a name, will 
ever remain the obscure questions of antiquaries. 

* Much has been written on this subject; but to so little pur- 
pose, that even the meaning of that word is not ascertained. It is 
not clear in what degree the Upocrahat of the ancients belonged to 
music or to grammar. If they were at first entirely musical (which 
I think is highly probable), at what time were they adopted to fix 
pronunciation ? Could we understand the real use of those marks 
which we call accents, it is probable, that all we should learn by 
it would be to know imperfectly, how Greek was pronounced 
by those who studied and taught it as a dead or foreign language, 

k2 



148 ON THE ORIGINAL 

But so far we know, that in its early and unpolished 
state, it was the language of various independent 
tribes ; who, being all interested in the common 
stock, contributed towards its increase and im- 
provement, according to their different circum- 
stances and fortunes. How it got so early into verse 
and measure, and was in that shape admitted into 
the service of legislation, morality, and religion, is 
uncertain. How prose composition came to be of a 
later date, introduced perhaps with the use of writ- 
ing, which brought with it arts and philosophy, and 
a more chaste and faithful mode of recording facts, 
is also matter of obscurity. That their alphabet 
was borrowed is very clear. Yet their terms of 
science seem to shew, that in the study of Nature 
they were original. Indeed we have no better 
guide to the rise and progress of Greek knowledge, 
than Greek etymology; which is in this respect 
Greek history. It is curious to trace the lan- 
guage of Homer to its passing into the service of 
philosophy : and it is no less so, to find the diction 
of Plato and Aristotle in common use at this day in 
the Archipelago. It is indeed disguised : and ap- 
pears like rich marble friezes of temples, and frag- 
ments with inscribed decrees of ancient councils 
and senates; which are frequently found reversed 
in the mud walls of a Turkish cottage, retaining in 
their present humiliation the genuine marks of 
better times. 

It appears from Homer, that, before the siege of 
Troy, it had spread considerably, not only over the 
continent, and islands of Greece, but on the Asiatic 
side of the Mediterranean. We may also conclude 
from him, that it was the language of Troy. h In- 
deed, if we inquire critically into the history of 

* See Strabo, on the affinity of the Thraeiau and Trojan language. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 149 

Greek composition, we must look for their first pro- 
ductions of this kind in the neighbourhood of the 
Troade, long before Athens had given any indications 
of the figure she afterward made in letters. — Or- 
pheus, Musaeus, Eumolpus, and Thomyris, were of 
Thrace; and Marsyas, Olympus, Midas, &c. were 
of the Ionian side of the Maeander. Totally diffe- 
rent from this was the rise and progress of letters at 
Rome. Her illiterate citizens loved liberty and their 
country, before they relished science, and discover- 
ed a taste for the arts of imitation. And when they 
turned their thoughts late that way, it was less im- 
pulse of genius, than the striking productions of 
Greece, which roused them from a lethargy of a 
most extraordinary duration. Accordingly their 
first poets and philosophers frequently copy and 
sometimes translate: and their best performances 
are those, which retain most of the borrowed spirit, 
by which they were first enlivened. 

A language, like that of Greece, formed, at least 
improved, under the rival patronage of so many 
separate states, is a singularity, which it is less dif- 
ficult to account for in a cluster of small islands, 
almost surrounded by a broken and divided conti- 
nent. The same distribution of land and water, 
which, as we have already observed, furnished 
Homer with so much picturesque scenery, was also 
well calculated for a variety of little settlements, 
distinct and independent of each other, within a 
narrow compass ; and therefore capable of an inter- 
course without jealousy, which the contiguous pos- 
sessions, and disputable boundaries of an extended 
plain country would not permit. Besides, the effects 
of war and conquest could not be felt here: the 
business of war, as well as of peace, being carried 
on in Greek, between Grecian and Grecian : so that 



150 ON THE ORIGINAL 

the language might be enriched, while the country 
was impoverished. 

I cannot help considering those separate nurseries 
of the Greek language, as a circumstance which 
most materially promoted its progress, by raising a 
competition, and secured its duration, by affording 
refuge and protection from the persecution and dis- 
couragements of any particular state; and I think 
we may venture to reckon the emulation and pro- 
tection, which this produced, among the causes, 
that contributed towards carrying literature in 
Greece to a degree of perfection which it never 
reached in any other country. 

We shall perhaps find, that the particular period 
in this progress, which fell to Homers lot, though 
not the most advanced, was not, for that reason, the 
less adapted to the purposes of that original cha- 
racter, now under our consideration : nor will it, 
upon examination, appear so extraordinary, while 
manners were rude, when arts were little cultivated, 
and before science was reduced to general princi- 
ples, that then poetry had acquired a greater degree 
of perfection than it has ever since attained. 

We have already seen, in our review of Homers 
state of society, a uniformity of manners, previous 
to the distinction of rank, and condition, which pro- 
duced that noble simplicity of language unknown to 
polished ages. Though the venerable beauties of 
that antiquated style must, in some degree, strike 
every reader; yet we cannot do it justice without 
looking back to the times it describes ; it is only 
from a knowledge of those early times, that we im- 
prove a relish of its beauties, and find an apology 
for its faults. 

. As to the Poet's Learning, I must own, that very 
different accounts are given of it, even bv some of 






GENIUS OF HOMER. 151 

his best commentators ; and great pains have been 
taken to shew, not only that he was extensively ac- 
quainted with the arts both of use and elegance, but 
that he was knowing in the secrets of deep and ab- 
struse science. This opinion has been both credited 
and supported, from the earliest times. And we 
find Plato, who admired Homer, as a poet, taking- 
great pains to confute those who had conceived so 
highly of his knowledge. 

I know of no authority to which we can appeal, 
in this case, of equal weight with Homer himself. 
It is principally from him that we have formed our 
ideas of that sameness in the pursuits and occupa- 
tions of mankind in the heroic ages, which is the 
genuine character of an early stage of society. 
Trades and professions were as yet scarcely divided 
into separate classes ; nor was that useful distribu- 
tion of industry yet imagined, which makes labour 
light, gives perfection to art, and variety to manners. 
But then, as the business and pleasures of life were 
rude, simple, and confined, they lay more open to 
the Poet's observation : and as he painted what he 
saw with so much truth, I fancy, we are too apt to 
think he knew much more than he painted. 

But I wonder, that those who have conceived so 
highly of the Poet's science, should not have at- 
tempted to settle a question, which seems so neces- 
sary towards forming a just judgment on that head, 
viz. How far the use of Writing was known to 
Homer? 

We are not far removed from the age, when great 
statesmen, and profound politicians, did not know 
their alphabet I mention this undoubted fact to 
lessen the readers astonishment at any insinuation, 
that Homer could neither read nor write. Nor will 
it appear altogether so paradoxical, if we consider, 



152 ON THE ORIGINAL 

how much the one is the work of genius, and the 
other of art. Poetry is found in savage life ;* and, 
even there, is not without those magic powers over 
our passions, which is the boasted character of its 
perfect state. But the art of establishing that won- 
derful intercourse between the senses of hearing and 
seeing, by means of arbitrary marks, that iia\e no 
resemblance to the idea, which is by agreement 
affixed to them, must have been the result of much 
deep thought and reflection. I am not surprised 
that antiquity, however fond of tracing every art up 
to its inventor, should attribute that of writing to 
the gods. If the invention of printing is ingenious, 
what shall we say to that of letters? But indeed 
we treat this invaluable gift of Art, of which we are 
in constant use, as we do some of the greatest gifts 
of Nature, which we daily enjoy, without due atten- 
tion, or proper respect either for the ingenuity or 
utility of the discovery. 

If we consult the Poet on this question, it must 
appear very remarkable 1 , that, in so comprehensive a 
picture of civil society, as that which he has left us, 
there is nothing, that conveys an idea of letters, or 
reading; none of the various terms, which belong to 
those arts, are to be found in Homer. The Iliad 
and Odyssey are apparently addressed to an au- 
dience; nor is therein either poem any allusion to 
writing. As to symbolical, hierogh phical, or pic- 
ture description, something of that kind was no 
doubt known to Homer, of which the letter k (as it 

1 Strabo, p. 34. tells us, that as poetical composition first ap- 
peared with success, prose only left out the measure; following 
the poet in every thing else. By degrees the poetical manner was 
discontinued, and Poetry, as Plutarch expresses it, at length de- 
scended from her car. 

k arinara Xirypct. — II. vi. 168* 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 153 

is called) which Bellerophon carried to the king of 
Lycia, is a proof. The Mexicans, though a civilized 
people, had no alphabet; and the account which 
they sent to Montezuma of the landing of the Spa- 
niards was in this picture-writing. As alphabetical 
writing is one of the most difficult, so this method 
of communicating thoughts by imitation, is one of 
the most obvious, of all inventions. The first efforts 
of our infant expression are of the mimetic kind ; and 
the names which different nations have given to the 
constellations are a proof of our natural disposition 
to communicate and explain our thoughts by help 
of animal resemblances. Though I will not con- 
clude, that Homer did not know that which is not 
taken notice of in his writings (a manner of reason- 
ing which has been carried too far upon other occa- 
sions) ; yet I cannot help thinking his silence on 
this head of some weight. 

There are many evidences to be obtained, which 
will prove, that writing came late to Greece. Ac- 
cording to Homer, and other early writers, all trea- 
ties, stipulations, and contracts, were verbal ; and 
on this account they were enforced with signs 
only, and solemn allusions, and appeals to Heaven. 
The rites of hospitality were held sacred, and were 
duly commemorated. This was effected, not by any 
formal deed, and with the ratification of a signet; 
but by a mutual present of a tripod, or a sword, or 
perhaps some arrows : and oftentimes of a robe, or 
garment. The ancients were very zealous to keep 
up the memory of those, who had deserved well 
of their country : but all the memorial, which they 
were able to afford, was a mound of earth over the 
deceased. This is the whole, that Hector requests, 
should it be his fate to be slain in single fight; and 
he desires, that the same may be bestowed upon his 



154 ON THE ORIGINAL 

adversary, should it be his fortune to kill Ajax. For 
farther record he trusts solely to tradition ; by which 
he supposes, that his tomb will be distinguished. It 
was not uncommon to erect a aTv\oq or rough pillar, 
over those of note, who were buried : and there was 
sometimes a device: but no mention is made of an 
inscription. Elpenor had an oar put over him to de- 
note his occupation, but no writing. When, in pro- 
cess of time, this art became known in Greece, it v 
by no means in general use : for it was attended with 
much difficulty, as well as uncertainty : being desti- 
tute of aspirates, and intervals ; and without the be- 
nefit of punctuation. The materials too for writing 
were very rude, and inadequate to the purpose. For 
want of the necessary helps in arrangement, it was 
difficult to distinguish words, and sentences, and 
readily to arrive at the purport of any composition. 
These inconveniences are mentioned by Aristotle : 
and every inscription of early date evinces, that 
these difficulties subsisted, when learning first 
, dawned. And from hence we may fairly inter, that 
writing could not have been long introduced, where 
such rude specimens were exhibited. Joseph us 
rightly observes, that there are no allusions to any 
written laws in Homer: and that the word m 
does not occur as a law in any part of that Poet. 
The first written laws, of which we can be assured, 
were those of Draco. Before these times all m 
effected by memory; and the histories of ancient 
times were commemorated in verses, which people 
took care faithfully to transmit to those, who came 
after them. They were also preserved in temples, 
where, upon festivals, the priests and priestess 
used to chant them to the people. There were also 
bards, whose sole province it was to commemorate 
the great actions of their gods and heroes. Their 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 155 

law was intrusted to verse, and adapted to measure 
and music. From all which we learn, that all was 
consigned to memory ; and that there was no written 
record. 

If it is asked, At what time then did the Greeks 
find out the alphabet ? for, according to this account 
of it, the interval between Homer and the Persian 
invasion was not equal to such a discovery, and after 
that period the use of writing was familiarly known 
in Greece. The answer is, that it was not of Greek 
invention; and without returning to the obscure 
history of Cadmus, I shall only observe, that the 
authority of Herodotus in favour of Phoenicia de- 
serves the more credit, as it contradicts the known 
vanity of his countrymen. Had it been discovered 
by them, we should certainly have known more of 
its history. Besides, the resemblance between the 
old Eastern and first Greek character seems to put 
this out of dispute. Now, as the use of an alphabet, 
though difficult to find out, when once found is easily 
communicated, it is not extraordinary, that we 
should know little about the time, when it was in- 
troduced : which introduction was probably effected 
not at once ; but must have depended not only upon 
the degree of civilization in the country, and the pro- 
gress of its own knowledge, but also upon the com- 
mencement, the nature, and the extent, of its inter- 
courseand connexion with Phoenicia, and the south- 
east part of the Mediterranean. 

But there is a singular circumstance in the history 
of Greek literature, which, if properly considered, 
will, I think, throw some light on this subject. It 
is allowed on all hands, that prose writing was un- 
known in Greece, till long after the Poet's time; 
and that, down to Cadmus the Milesian, and Phe- 
recydes of Syros, all composition was in verse. After 



156 ON THE ORIGINAL 

much refined and unsatisfactory modern reasoning 
on this head, I beg leave to go back to the plain 
account of it, which Aristotle 1 long since suggested; 
when, inquiring why the same word in Greek sig- 
nified a song and a law, he asked, whether it was 
not because, before the invention of writing, laws 
were sung, that they might not be forgotten, accord- 
ing to the practice of the Agathyrsians in bis time? 
It would be difficult to account for so long a prio- 
rity of verse to prose, if we suppose them to have 
been some time in possession of an alphabet. 111 
It is contrary to the natural order and progress of 
things, to imagine, that the first essays of alpha- 
betical writing should be made in ver>e : and even 
granting its first application was in this way, it is 
unreasonable to think that it could, for any time, be 
confined to that species of composition, and that 
other obvious advantages of a discovers fill to 

society should be so long neglected. Before that 
invention, verse and music were very necessary 
aids to memory, then solely intrusted with the 
whole deposit of law, history, and religion, till 
the art of writing introduced a more faithful, 

and comprehensive method of recording thi 
Perhaps we cannot give a better account of the 
policy of obliging the youths to get by heart Hon 
Catalogue, and ordering his works to be publicly 

1 Problem Sect. \ix. Art. '28. 

ra See the Life of Homer by Herodotus, where Phenias the school- 
master is said to have taught the children yoaufjara. *»• ibo the 
epigram upon the sepulchre of Midas. It is scarce worth trou- 
bling the reader with an answer to any } !>ring 
these as evidences of Homer's knowing letters. -f/<« »s a monu- 
ment, or mark of a burial-place, and often to be found in Homer. 
It was a large heap of earth or stoues over the dead. Then 
oftentimes something added to denote the person's } 
which is a custom still practised in Scotland. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 157 

recited at the Panathensean ceremonies, than by 
considering them as regulations relative to a state 
of society ignorant of writing, or at least unpro- 
vided with the materials necessary to reap the 
benefit of the invention, which were extremely scarce 
even for ages after that time. If this reasoning be 
admitted to have any weight, it will allow us to fix 
the common familiar use of an alphabet in Greece, 
and prose writing, to pretty much the same period, 
viz. about five hundred and fifty-four years before 
Christ. 

The best account we can collect of the rise and 
progress of knowledge in Greece corresponds with 
this state of things. The seven Sages, so much ce- 
lebrated for their wisdom, have transmitted very 
little of it to posterity ; and all their works consist 
of a few smart sayings, moral sentences, and scraps 
of poetry, which oral tradition had preserved. Thales 
and Pythagoras, whose schools peopled Greece with 
philosophers, left no writings behind them; the same 
may be said of Socrates, who lived still later. Thespis 
wrote no tragedies, Susarion no comedies, and 
most probably iEsop no fables. What is more ex- 
traordinary, legislation was considerably advanced 
before written laws were in use, if we may credit the 
accounts concerning Charondas and Zeleucus, who 
lived before Draco, by whom written laws were first 
produced. 

As to the difficulty of conceiving how Homer 
could acquire, retain, and communicate, all he knew, 
without the aid of letters, it is, I own, very striking. 
And yet, I think, it will not appear insurmountable, 
if, upon comparing the fidelity of oral tradition, and 
the powers of memory, with the Poet's knowledge, 
we find the two first much greater, and the latter 
much less, than we are apt to imagine. 



158 ON THE ORIGINAL 

The Mexicans, who had no alphabet, and whose 
picture-writing on the leaves of trees was very in- 
sufficient for the purpose of history, trusted to the 
memory of their poets and orators, from whose 
recitals the Spaniards wrote down the accounts 
which they have transmitted. In like manner the 
historians of Ireland have collected their materials 
from the lays of their bards and fileas ; whose ac- 
counts have been merely traditional. 

But the oral traditions of a learned and enlight- 
ened age will greatly mislead us, if from them we 
form our judgment on those of a period, when 
history had no other resource. What we obsei v< d 
at Palmyra puts this matter to a much fairer trial ; 
nor can we, in this age of dictionaries, and other 
technical aids to memory, judge, what her use and 
powers were, at a time, when all a man could know, 
was all he could remember. To which we may 
add, that, in a rude and unlettered state of society 
the memory is loaded with nothing that is cither 
useless or unintelligible: whereas modern educa- 
tion employs us chiefly in getting by heart, while 
we are young, what we forget before we are old. 

When all exertions, not only of the judgment, 
but of the imagination, depended so much upon me- 
mory, the Muses were with peculiar propriety sup- 
posed to be the daughters of n Mnemosune. This 
pedigree will perhaps account for Homer's addi 
ing them with such solemnity, when he is going to 

n 'Movercu Q\vf.i7riahe, KOVpflU Aioc aiyio\oio, 
Tag er Tlupirj Kpovictj reice Tarpi fiiyeiaa 
Mn// Li0 < Tl ' , ' 7 ?» yovvoiffiv HAeiStjpog pEceovera, 
Aiicrf-ioavniv re kcikiov, af.nravj.ia re uepftrjpa^y. 
Erica yap 61 rvxrag efiiffyero fji]rura Zf re, 
Noc^tv air adararioi-, tepov \e\oc EiaavaSau u>> • 
AW ore h) p iriavroQ £>/r, tteoi ? tr tu, 

M»;i u)r otfirn run -, ~eot c quara ircW t-tXeadt], 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 159 

recite the Grecian and Trojan forces, the names of 
their commanders, and the number of their ships. 
This mere arithmetical part of the Iliad is that, 
which he undertakes with most diffidence ; and 
where he is most solicitous of their aid : though a 
modern poet would scarcely think of invoking his 
muse on such an occasion. It is true, we find the 
same invocation in Virgil, when he enumerates the 
forces of iEneas and Turnus. But besides that his 
close and constant imitation of Homer will go a 
great way in accounting for this, he copies him in 
this instance with an exception, which I think fa- 
vours my conjecture: for he omits Homer's exagge- 
ration of the difficulty in recollecting the numbers ; 
though he liked the expression so well, as to adopt 
it upon two other occasions. 

'H & erst: evvecl Kovpag 6jj.o(f)povag, rjaiv aoidri 
Mfju/3\erai, ev (TTrjdeaffty aKrfha Qvfiov £-)(ovaaig, 
TvtQov an cu'porart/c Kopvtyi)g vityoEvrog 0\vfJL7rov, 
Er0a otyiv Xnrapot te \opot y ko.i diofiara kclXcl. 

Hesiod, Theog. v. 52. 
• The reader may form his judgment, by comparing the original, 
and the copy: 

E,<jttete vvv fJLOL, Movcrcu, o\v fiTTta ^ojfxar EypvaaC 
(XfJLEig yap Becu core, irapEffTE te, iote te nravra' 

'HfilElQ %E K\£OQ OLOV AKOYOMEN, OvU TL ityEf) 

OlrivEQ TjyEfjLovEg Aavawv kcll Koipavoi r\aav. 
I1AHOYN c ovk av Eyio fjLv6rj(Top.ai t outf ovofxrjvojy 
Ov& £t fxot hfca fiEV yXuxraai, Sekcl Se ffTOjiar eiev, 
Qiovri <T app-qKTog, ^oXkeov $e jioi r)Top evevt], 
Ei jir) OXvfXTriahg Movaat, Atog Aiyio%oio 
©yyarepec, MNH2 AIA0', oaoi vtto IXiov rjXSov. 

II. B. 484, &c. 
" Pandite nunc Helicona, Deae, cantusque movete : 
Qui bello exciti reges ; quae quemque secutae 
Complerit campos acies ; quibus Itala jam turn 
Floruerit terra alma viris ; quibus arserit armis. 
Et meministis enim, Divae, et memorare potestis : 
Ad nos vix tenuis famae perlabitur aura." 

Mx. vii. 641, &c. 



160 ON THE ORIGINAL 

If therefore we take the Poet's account of things, 
we discover nothing in it that implies the use of 
writing. This will appear more clearly from a short 
state of the kind of knowledge which from his works 
we may reasonably presume that he possessed. 

Without letters, it may be said, there could be no 
effectual method, either of ascertaining or promul- 
gating the sense of law; but this corresponds exactly 
with the wretched state of government, which we 
have described under the article of Mannei 

We are indeed told, that Lycurgus would not 
write his laws, because minds properly educated, 
and taught what is right, should not be restrained. 
But can we suppose, that the author of the Spartan 
constitution could have reasoned in thi> manner? 
The laws of Zaleucus were not committed to writing. 
It is true, that the Jaws of Solon were engraved 
either in stone or upon wood, like the Decalogue, 
and those of the twelve tables. But there seems to 
have been but one copy of them : and that was for 
some time deposited in the Acropolis, but was after- 
ward removed to the Prytaneum for the more easy 
inspection of the people. While writing was con- 
fined to engraving upon wood, brass, or marble, the 
art could not well be in very general use. Agree- 
ments and contracts, both public and private, were 
made before witnesses. The conditions of the 
treaty between the Grecians and Trojans were au- 
thenticated only by a solemn verbal convention, to 
which both armies were witnes:*e>. The tenure and 



Here Virgil omits his 

" Non, mi hi si lingure centum siut oraque centum, 
Ferrea vox — " 

which he introduces, Georg. ii. 42. and JEneid vi. G'2b 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 161 

purchase of the cave at Macpelah, which Abraham 
bought for himself and his heirs for ever, at the 
price of four hundred shekels of silver, were ascer- 
tained in the presence of Ephron, and the sons of 
Heth. 

Commerce consisted in little more than an ex- 
change of superfluities in kind ; p coins were un- 
known ; gold, silver, brass, and iron, were all used 
as marks of riches, but with little knowledge either 
of the relative value, or of the separate uses to which 
they were afterward applied in a more advanced 
state of the mechanical arts. 

When Proteus takes an account of the numbers 
of his sea-calves, the manner in which he performs 
that operation is expressed by a Greek verb, q to 
which there is nothing in our language literally 
equivalent. When therefore I say that he fived 
them, I take the liberty of coining a word, which, 
corresponding precisely with the old Greek term, 
will convey to the English reader an allusion to the 
origin of arithmetic ; for the Greek word, not used, 
that I can find, by any writer after Homer, seems to 
point out the first simple method of enumeration, 
while the operation was confined to the h\e fingers 
of one hand, and before the decimal computation, 
or the arithmetic of two hands, was practised. I do 
not mean to undervalue Homer's arithmetical know- 
ledge, so much as to measure it exactly by this 
primitive term ; for though it continued to express 
enumeration in his time, it certainly belonged to a 
more imperfect state of that art, as we find him use 
the decimal progression; which has been adopted 
by all nations, ancient and modern, with very few 

p See Iliad vii. v. 471. where brass, iron, skins, oxen, and slaves, 
are exchanged for wine. 

* TrefJiira<Tff€Tai. Od. A. V. 412. 

L 



162 ON THE ORIGINAL 

exceptions. Yet I doubt much, whether the method 
of counting upon the fingers, here alluded to, was 
not the only one known to Homer, at least I cannot 
find in his works any of the terms which denote a 
farther progress in the science of numbers/ 

Mathematics were introduced into Greece by 
Thales, and the Ionic school ; all knowledge, which 
depends upon that science, must have been very 
imperfect before that time. When therefore we 
consider Homer as the father of geography, we may 
allow his accurate observation as a traveller, before 
maps 5 and charts were invented. But we must ac- 
knowledge, that geography, as a science, was as 
much unknown to him, as astronomy, 1 on which so 
much depends. 

r To have enumerated the whole army, Homer terms impossible, 
even with the assistance of the Muses. He leaves it therefore to 
them, and makes it their department. 

Perhaps the barren list of names in Hesiod's genealogy (I can- 
not help calling them so) will stand less in need of apology, if we 
consider, that they were addressed to an audience ignorant of the 
use of writing, which was certainly very little practised, if at all 
known, at that time. 

s The invention of Anaximander no doubt related to maps ; w Inch 
were drawn upon principles of geometry. But to say, that maps 
merely tracing distances, and separations of lauds, were unknown 
to Homer, is not my intention. The first idea of landed property 
pointed out lines and boundaries: and the first travelling must have 
found the use of marks. Maps of this sort are devised by the very 
savages of North America. They are delineated upon skins, and 
the bark of trees : and maps of this sort might probably be known 
to Homer. But these are no proof of science. 

Anaximander invented maps. See Strabo. 

1 Iii respect to astronomy, it is certain that Homer was not ac- 
quainted with the planets. What Pope translates a comet, in the 
beginning of the fourth Iliad, is plainly a star; which Virgil copies. 
See Rureus Georg. i. v. 365. 

Veuus was known to Homer and Hesiod, and could not escape 
their observation in the most ignorant times; but not as a planet 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 163 

When Ulysses launches his ship, we find him em- 
ploy the lever and the inclined plane for that pur- 
pose ; but are we therefore to suppose, that he knew 
the mechanical powers? or shall we not rather con- 
clude, from his building that ship with a brazen 
hatchet, that the useful arts were still very imperfect 
in his time? 

As to the arts of elegance, the rank, in which 
they stand in Homer (perhaps the same in which 
they occur in the natural order of discovery), seems 
to be this : 

That poetry had the precedence, the Iliad and 
Odyssey sufficiently demonstrate; but, besides that 
testimony, we know from the best accounts of bar- 
barous and savage nations, that the most successful 
efforts of genius in rude society are of this kind. 

If Homer's music could be separated from his 
poetry, which was always sung, and I believe gene- 
rally accompanied, with an instrument, it would 
claim the second place : but the extraordinary ef- 
fects, which are recorded of this art in the earliest 
accounts of it, belonged to the united powers of 
music and poetry. Indeed all instruction, civil and 
religious, was wrapt up in melody and verse ; u and 
the priest, who was a lawgiver, was also a poet and 
musician. This is agreeable to that rude state of 
society, which we have described, when civilization 
was addressed more to the passions than the under- 
standing, and men were to be first tamed, in order 
to their being taught. 

Next come the arts of design ; and first sculp- 
ture. Statues are mentioned in Homer, but with- 
out any of that admiration of the art, or compli- 
ment to the skill of the artist, which we expect 
from a person impressed with the beauties of this 
* See Aristotle's politics for singing and writing. 
L2 



164 ON THE ORIGINAL 

kind. The shield of Achilles has indeed given 
occasion for people talking very highly of the Poet's 
knowledge, not only in sculpture, but in painting: 
and it has been attempted to be proved, that it ex- 
hibits a full idea of the art. Those who have cu- 
riosity to see how far the ancients were carried as 
well as the moderns) by indulging a taste for al- 
legory, may consult Eustathius for the wild con- 
jectures of Damo the learned daughter of Pytha- 
goras, and of Heraclides Ponticus on this shield. 
But it was reserved for this age to discover in it a 
full and exact idea of painting in all its parts ; that 
is to say, in the invention, the composition, and the 
expression ; that it is executed according to the 
rules of perspective, and observes the three unities, 
viz. one principal action, one instant of time, and 
one point of view. 

Monsieur Boivin's idea, which suggested this 
piece of criticism, is ingenious; and if we do not 
carry it farther than he intended, affords a com- 
plete answer to those who objected that it was im- 
possible to engrave subjects, which are described 
in this beautiful episode within so narrow a com- 
pass, as that of a shield. But, without entering 
into any observations on this dissertation, I must 
deny that painting, as an art, was known to Homer, 
if we may judge from his works. It may ap, 
extraordinary, considering the present close con- 
nexion between the sister arts of poetry and paint- 
ing, that the first should have acquired the highest 
perfection which it has yet attained, before the 1 a>t 
had a beginning. Yet I see nothing in the Iliad or 
Odyssey like the use of the pencil and colours in 
producing resemblance ; no hint of the clair obscur, 
or the art of raising an object on a flat surface, 
and approaching it to the eye by the management 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 165 

of light and shade. Nor can I find a word in the 
Iliad or Odyssey to express any thing like such an 
art. I know it is generally understood, that the 
same word u signified originally both to write and 
to paint. That it had both these meanings in later 
times is true : but the Poet always applies this word 
to express incision made by a sharp weapon or 
instrument; and it would be easy to shew from 
a variety of Jewish as well as Grecian authorities, 
that the first writing practised by either of those 
nations was engraved, and not painted. 

The same may be said of architecture, which, 
though it owes more to Homer's country, if he was 
an Ionian, than to any other, seems not to have 
been known in his time as an art. x I do not mean 
to say that ornamented convenience or even magni- 
ficence of a certain kind was not yet introduced 
into buildings ; the contrary is evident from many 
passages in the Poet : but we see no marks of that 
symmetry and proportion which afterwards distin- 
guished the architecture of Greece from that of 
Egypt, in the Iliad and Odyssey; the Greek orders 
were not yet invented ; and Priam's palace, 

" Rais'd on arch'd columns of stupendous fame." 

is of the translator's building, whose ideas upon 
this occasion are borrowed from the magnificence of 
later ages. In short, we do not even find the tech- 
nical terms of this art in Hemer. Sculpture, so 
far as it had the human figure for its object, arrived 
soonest at perfection in Greece; and from the ten- 
dency of Grecian education towards athletic and 
manly exercises, had the advantage of elegant and 
graceful form. Architecture not being the imitation 

u ypa(f)(o. 
* Sardis, the capital of Crcesus, consisted of a parcel of thatched 
houses. Herod, i. v. c. 101. 



166 ON THE ORIGINAL 

of any model of Nature, could not be so soon esta- 
blished, for want of some universal settled princi- 
ples : its most perfect style was therefore late. 

Homer has been highly extolled for his know- 
ledge of medicine and anatomy, particularly the 
latter ; and his insight into the structure of the 
human body has been considered as so nice, that he 
has been imagined by some to have wounded his 
heroes with too much science.' This has been con- 
firmed by those of the profession, who finding the 
Poet correct and learned in his anatomical term-, 
have not hesitated to pronounce him knowing in 
their art. 

But had they considered, that those were not 
terms of art in the Poet's days ; that he had no 
words to express the parts of the human body, than 
those, which have been since consecrated to a par- 
ticular profession : and if, at the same time thtv had 
observed, that ail his anatomical knowledge di 
not exceed the reach of that cariosity, with which 
he seems to have surveyed and examined ever] 
object in Nature, that fell within his observation, 
they would have suppressed that inconsiderate ad- 
miration, which has been lavished on his scien 
and have paid it, where it is due, to his just con- 
ception and happy expression as a painter. 

In the same manner, the words rpemu m\ioio 1. 
I think, misled those, who, collecting from that 
expression the Poet's astronomical science, draw 
from its conclusions with regard to the time when 
he lived. The Tropics, say they, were rir>t known 
to Thales; but they are mentioned by Horn 
therefore the Poet was posterior to the philosopher. 

I have already attempted to restore lion 
sense of this expression; and if. agreeable to the 
T See Pope's Essay on Homer. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 107 

explanation which I have given of the passage, we 
translate these words the conversions or turnings, 
instead of the tropics of the sun ; that is, if we take 
a synonymous word from common life, instead of 
that which, though it belonged to common life in 
the Poet's time, has been since adopted by science, 
we shall come nearer to the simplicity of his mean- 
ing; and we shall find that the expression implies 
no more astronomical science, than falls to the share 
of every peasant, who observes that the sun turns 
from us in winter, and towards us in summer. 

When I learn from Plutarch, that Alexander ad- 
mired Achilles, and envied him such a poet as 
Homer to sing his praises, I can easily give credit 
to a circumstance so much in character. But when 
I consider the great improvements in the art of war 
between the time of Homer and the son of Philip, 
and yet am told, that the latter consulted the Iliad 
for military knowledge, I cannot help imputing it to 
his own affectation, or his preceptor's pedantry. 
For Homer's battles, like those of Bourguignon and 
other painters of that class, exhibit a few distinct 
figures in the fore-ground ; all the rest is unintelli- 
gible confusion. 

From this short view of what I conceive to have 
been the compass of Homer's knowledge, I shall 
venture to offer my opinion, as matter of conjecture 
(to more I do not pretend, without a farther investi- 
gation of this subject); that the art of writing, though 
probably known to Greece when the Poet lived, 
was very little practised there ; that all knowledge 
at that time was preserved by memory, and with 
that view committed to verse, till an alphabet intro- 
duced the use of prose in composition. 

Nor do 1 propose this entirely without authority. 2 

2 See Iliad vi. 168. and vii. 175. 



168 ON THE ORIGINAL 

Eustathius is of this opinion, as well as Didymus, 
or whoever was the author of the less Scholia. Add 
to these the testimony of a Josephus, who, though 
not without his national prejudices, was a most re- 
spectable judge of this question. He cannot fail of 
having great weight with those, who will be at the 
trouble to takea candid and dispassionate view of his 
answer to Apion. In this treatise he takes notice of 
the variety of calamities, which had destroyed the re- 
cords of the Grecians, and introduced great changes 
in life and society, upon which rival pretension- to 
antiquity were founded, each tribe and >tah -claiming 
seniority. He proceeds to observe, 10 respect to 
their late and imperfect knowledge of letters, that 
they, who carried that claim highest! went DO farther 
back than the Phenicians,aud Cadmus, from whom 
they are supposed to have received the use of the 
alphabet. At the same time he expressly declares, 
that they could not produce a single m< moriitl in 
writing of so old a date, neither in their religious Off 
civil records; and he adds, that the works of Homer, 
the oldest known production of Greece, were not 
preserved in writing, but were sung, and retained by 
memory. If then, with Josephu>. we suppose that 
Homer left no written copy of his works, the ac- 
count we find of them in ancient writers becomes 
more probable. It is generally supposed that Lv- 
curgus brought them from Ionia into Greece, where 
they were known before only by scraps and de- 
tached pieces. 

Diogenes Laertius attributes the merit of this 
performance to Solon: Cicero gives it to Pisistratus: 
and Plato to Hipparchus : and they may possibly 

a Contra Apion. lib. i. 

b Jackson, v. 3. p. 133. in contradiction to Must alh in «. Plu- 
tarch, /Elian, and others. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 160 

have been all concerned in it. But there would 
have been no occasion for each of these persons to 
have sought so diligently for the parts of these 
poems, and to have arranged them so carefully, if 
there had been a complete copy. If, therefore, the 
Spartan Lawgiver, and the other personages com- 
mitted to writing, and introduced into Greece, what 
had been before only sung by the rhapsodists of 
Ionia, just as some curious fragments of ancient 
poetry have been lately collected in the northern 
parts of this island, their reduction to order in 
Greece was a work of taste and judgment: and 
those great names which we have mentioned might 
claim the same merit in regard to Homer, that the 
ingenious editor of Fingal is entitled to from Ossian. 

What we have offered on this head may seem in- 
jurious to the Poet, as it certainly robs him of a re- 
spectable part of his character, which has been long 
acknowledged, and contradicts that favourite opi- 
nion of his learning, which his admirers, ancient and 
modern, have taken so much pains to propagate. 
But let us, on the other hand, inquire whether he 
might not derive some advantages from this illite- 
rate state of things, to compensate that loss. 

Perhaps one of the greatest was that of his having 
but one language to express all he knew. Nor was 
the particular period of that language, which fell to 
his lot, less advantageous to him. For if we exa- 
mine the rise and progress of language, with a view 
to its application and use, we shall find that the 
several stages of its advancement are not equally 
favourable to every display of genius; and that the 
useful artist and the philosopher will find their ac- 
count in certain improvements, which rather impede 
than forward the Poet's views. His business is en- 
tirely with Nature ; and the language, which belongs 



170 ON THE ORIGINAL 

to imperfect arts, simple manners, and unlettered 
society, best suits his purpose. 

If then Homer found the Greek language consi- 
derably advanced, without the assistance of writing, 
its improvements (to which, no doubt, he contri- 
buted largely) being entirely addressed to the i 
in a climate, where conception is quick, and the 
organs of speech capable of nice articulation, it * 
of course formed to music nod poetry, then closely 
united. 

When the sen C&tcbed from the sound, and 

not deliberately collected from paper, simplicity and 
clearness were mora necessary. loTOlfed period* 
and an embarrassed style were not introduced, till 
writing became more an art, and labour supplied 
the place of genius. The frequent repetition of 
entire passages (for which Homer is censored) x 
not only more natural, but le<s observable, then tore 
less offensive; action, tone, and pronunciation, u I 
more essentially concerned in e\< ry composition of 
genius, and all poetry was dramatic : and so far 
might be ranked among the mimetic arts. Bol I 

1 We are by some informed, that tecordiiig to Aristotle rod the 
Greek critic, all poetry ii imitation. But if we consider thi> 
ter more attentively, we shall find, that 

criticism is founded in the distinction between what was mimetic, 
and what was not so in poc try. Not to trouble the reader with 
much quotation (which I wish to avoid, at least for the | 
will refer him to Plato. This writer, in the third book of bifl K« - 
public, is very explicit in distinguishing what is pure narration; 
and what is mimetic, or dramatic. The first is, where the Poet 
speaks in his own person. The second, when an actor is intro- 
duced. He according^ gives instances out of the Iliad and O 
sey, which poems consist of both. Eustathius, whenhe begins his 
Commentary upon the Catalogue, recites this distinction very fullv, 
in order to introduce his observation upon the manner, in which 
Homer keeps up his spirit in that enumeration oi the form 
it WIS difficult to be here maintained, as the the 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 171 

do not see, why written poetry is to be ascribed to 
that class : or why Homer's account of the Curetes 
and iEtolians should be imitation, while the war 
between the Grecians and Persians, by Herodotus, 
is to be called narration. 

The language which we bring into the world with 
us is not confined to the organs of speech; but it is 
made up of voice, countenance, and gesture. And 
had not our powers of articulation, that distinguish- 
ing mark of our social constitution, suggested a more 
convenient mode of conveying our ideas, the simple 
tones of Nature, with the varieties of modulation, 
which are now assigned to the province of music, 
might have been applied to the purposes of common 
life, as we are told they are in some degree among 
the Chinese. Speaking and singing would differ 
little, as the original Greek words, which signify 
both, seem to imply ; the human countenance would 
have not only retained but improved its natural 
powers of expression, which it is now the great bu- 
siness of education to suppress, and the dumb lan- 
guage of gesticulation would have made a very sig- 
nificant part of conversation. 

Such is the language of Nature, without which 
there could be no language of compact, the first sup- 
plying that communication of ideas which was ab- 
solutely necessary to establish the latter; though, 
afterward falling into disuse, in proportion to the 
progress and improvement of what was gradually 



mimetic or dramatic kind. Aristotle, in his Poetics (C. 24.) com- 
pliments Homer particularly, as the only Poet, who knew, how 
little he should appear himself, and how much he should leave for 
imitation. Dionysius Halicarnasseusis, or whoever was the author 
of the Treatise upon Homer's Poetry, takes notice of the Poet's 
transition from the narrative to the mimetic, from the fariyrjuaTimv 
to the j-tifiiiTiKov. 



172 ON THE ORIGINAL 

substituted in its stead. But, though banished in 
great measure from common use, it still retains its 
powers in the province of poetry, where the most 
finished efforts of artificial language are but cold 
and languid circumlocution, compared with that 
passionate expression of Nature, which, incapable 
of misrepresentation, appeals directly to our feelings, 
and finds the shortest road to the heart. It was to 
, be found in every production of genius, and in all 
poetry ; that is to say, all composition was dramatic. 

It was therefore an advantage to the Father of 
poetry, that he lived before the language of Compact 
and Art had so much prevailed over that of Nature 
and Truth. 

The same early stage of artificial language may 
perhaps help us to another 11 reason for a circum- 
stance not less extraordinary in itself, than fortu- 
nate to letters; viz. that Homer, though the oldest, 
is the clearest and most intelligible of all ancient 
writers. The Greek vocabulary, though copious 
in his time, was not yet equivocal; ambiguity of 
, expression was little known before the birth of 
Science; when Philosophy, adopting the language 
of common life, applied known terms to new mean- 
ings, and introduced that confusion and obscurity, 
which still continues to supply matter for polemical 
writings, and to be the chief support of metaphysical 
subtlety and refinement. 

Could Homer take a view of the various fortunes 
and changes which his language has undergone in 
the service of literature, he would be surprised to 
see so many volumes of controversy about the sig- 
nification of words, which conveyed to him the in 

11 Sec above, where his simplicity ind clearness of style is sup 
posed in some degree owing to writing not having been in use. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 173 

distinct images of things ; and to find, that terms, 
which, in his time, were universally acknowledged 
as the signs of certain external objects of sense, 
should have acquired an additional meaning, which 
the philosophy and learning of so many ages have 
not yet been able to settle. 

If his language had not yet acquired the refine- 
ments of a learned age, it was for that reason not 
only more intelligible and clear, but also less open 
to pedantry and affectation. For as technical and 
scientific terms were unknown, before the separa- 
tion of arts: and till science became the retired pur- 
suit of a few, as there was no school but that of Life, 
and no philosophy but that of Common Sense; so 
we find in Homer nothing out of the reach of an 
ordinary capacity, and plain understanding: and 
those who look farther, seem to neglect his obvious 
beauties. 

It may perhaps be thought that this early state 
of artificial language, to which we attribute so much 
of the Poet's clearness and unaffected simplicity, 
must have cramped him in the variety of his num- 
bers: but the Greek tongue never had more distinct 
sounds e in proportion to its clear ideas, than at this 
period; which was therefore precisely the time in 
this respect fittest for poetical expression. It is 
true, that in its more enriched and polished state, it 
was the repository of much knowledge, to which 
Homer was a stranger ; but its acquisition of new 
words was by no means in proportion to that of new 
meanings, as we have already observed ; and the 
business of literature in all its branches was carried 
on chiefly upon the original stock. 

e After his poems were introduced at Athens, we find that they 
were sung and recited, and that rhapsodists were employed for this 
purpose. 



174 ON THE ORIGINAL 

But, besides that his language was sufficiently co- 
pious for his purposes, it had other advantages more 
favourable to harmonious versification, than ever fell 
to the lot of any other Poet. I shall first mention 
the Greek particles ; and I cannot help assigning 
the priority of verse f to prose in this language, as 
the reason why it abounds so much more with par- 
ticles than any other; which are to hexameter 
verse, what small stones are to a piece of masonry, 
ready at hand to fill up the breaks and interstices, 
and connect those of a larger size, so exactly as to 
give a smooth compactness to the whole. And we 
accordingly find them occur more frequently in the 
old poets, and in the early prose writers, who had 
no poetical models, and artificial helps, upon which 
they could form their style. 

I do not mean to say that Homer's particles were 
altogether condemned to this mere expletive duty. 
They contribute very much to the clearness of his 
meaning as well as to the length of his vera B. And 
though the great use made of them by the best 
prose writers may be in some degree owing to an 
imitation of Homer, we must acknowledge that 
they have a great share in the connexion, and per- 
spicuity, which is remarkable in those early compo- 
sitions. We find them much used by the first prose 
writers of the best Greek times, who found them 
necessary to connexion and perspicuity : qualities 
in an author, which are strangely neglected since 
those inferior parts of speech have been so much 
discarded from the fashionable style of most mo- 
dern languages. 

Another great poetical advantage of Homer's 
language is, that facility with which two or more 

See Aristotle of Sostrales aud Mnesistheus. See Plato's Iou. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 175 

words connect and join together, g to the great im- 
provement both of the sound and the sense ; for it is 
hard to say, whether the ear is more filled with the 
harmony, or the mind with the imagery, of those 
sonorous and descriptive compound epithets, which 
have an effect in this language, unknown to any 
other. What was of so much use to poetry and 
Homer, has not been without its convenience to 
philosophers and artists after him. Even at this 
day the expression in modern languages is enriched 
by a Greek compound, coined for the purpose of 
expressing much in a single word. 

While to all this we add, that very extensive 
poetical licence, which shortens, lengthens, adds, 
suppresses, changes, and transposes letters and syl- 
lables, at the beginning, the middle, and the end of 
words, we must also consider, that those are not 
only advantages, which the Greek language pos- 
sesses above all others ; but which, in all probabi- 
lity, Homer enjoyed above all Greek poets. For 
when criticism took its rise as an art, and Aristotle 
found in the Iliad and Odyssey those rules of com- 
position, which the Poet drew from Nature, those 

e When the Rhapsodists recited Homer from written copies, the 
whole was in capitals, without punctuation, aspiration, or any 
marks or intervals to distinguish words. This has been the chief 
cause of false readings in Homer. 

Our account of Greek composition beginning with verse, affords 
a reason for the ignorance of the first critics in the etymology of 
their own language. Plato is so ridiculous upon that head, that it 
is scarce possible to believe him serious. 

I will venture to say, that the etymology of his language is 
better understood at this day than it was in his time. It also ac- 
counts for the great abundance of particles in this language be- 
yond all other languages. The poets introduced them for helps to 
measure ; and their successors retained them, copying implicitly 
those who had gone before them, as the best models for com- 
position. 



176 ON THE ORIGINAL 

bounds of poetical licence were prescribed for 
others, which his unlimited fancy had freely sug- 
gested to himself; and the liberties he chose to 
take, 11 became the laws which they were obliged to 
follow. 

Thus the simplicity, without meanness or indeli- 
cacy, of the Poet's language rises out of the state of 
his manners. There could be no mean or indeli- 
cate expression, where no mean or indelicate idea 
was to be conveved. There could be no technical 
terms, before the separation of arts from life, and 
of course no pedantry, and few abstract ideas be- 
fore the birth of philosophy ; consequently, though 
there was less knowledge, there was less obscurity. 
As he could change the form without changing the 
meaning of his words, and vary their sound without 
altering their sense, he was not tempted to sacrifice 
truth and nature to harmony and numbers. 

Such was the advantages of language which contri- 
buted to makeHomeras original in his expression, as 
in his conception; and (keeping to our idea of him as 
a painter) as happy in his colouring as his outline ; 
simple with dignity; natural without indelicacy; 
informed without pedantry ; the most clear and in- 
telligible, as well as the most musical and harmo- 
nious, of all poets. 

h I do not mean that Homer extended bis liberty so far, as to 
pay no regard to the quantity of words, which use had established. 
The absurdity of such a supposition is so obvious, that I wonder it 
should have been admitted for a moment. But he certainly in- 
dulged in liberties of this kind to a degree, which could not es- 
cape early animadversion. * Euclid the elder used to say. it is 
easy to be a poet, if you may lengthen words as you please. 

* Aristot. Poet. C. "22. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 177 

CONCLUSION. 

If our conjectures with regard to the two leading 
circumstances of Homer's poetical life, viz. his coun- 
try and his travels, founded upon the different ideas 
he seems to have conceived of men and things, under 
the various influences of those distinct relations, are 
at all plausible, considered separately, they will de- 
serve additional credit under a comparative view ; 
for as, on the one hand, the traveller discovers him- 
self to be an Ionian, so, on the other, the Ionian 
proves himself to be a traveller. 

But whether M'e view this Ionian traveller at home 
or abroad, whether we attend him in his contempla- 
tions on the external beauties of the creation, or 
follow him into the secret recesses of our own hearts, 
in either light we trace him by the most natural re- 
presentations of every characterizing circumstance 
of truth and reality. 

This original mode of composition, so essential 
to unity of time, place, action, and character, parti- 
cularly in the epic, where both the narrative and 
descriptive parts of an extensive plan, purposely 
avoiding the formality of historical and geographi- 
cal order, are more exposed to inconsistence, has, I 
hope, in some degree been pointed out by the fore- 
going loose and indigested observations. 

I shall therefore venture to conclude, that the 
more we consider the Poet's age, country, and travels, 
the more we discover that he took his scenery and 
landscape from Nature, his manners and characters 
from life, his persons and facts (whether fabulous or 
historical) from tradition, jand his passions and senti- 
ments from experience of the operations of the hu- 
man mind in others, compared with, and corrected 
by, his own feelings. 

M 



178 ON THE ORIGINAL 

As therefore every sketch of this great master is 
an exact transcript of what he had either seen, 
heard, or felt, it is not extraordinary that the same 
compositions, which have ascertained, beyond com- 
petition, his poetical rank, should not only have de- 
cided his superiority as a geographer, and secured 
his credit as an historian, but have procured respect 
to his philosophical character, which Strabo would 
not suffer to be disputed. If an unbounded venera- 
tion for his works has carried his claim still higher, 
his amazing powers of original imitation furnish the 
only apology I can think of for such extravagance. 
I mean to say, that those, who found Homer and 
Nature the same, are, so far, excusable in deriving 
the principles of all science from the Iliad and 
Odyssey. Nature includes them all : her propor- 
tions are just and invariable; whoever paints her 
true, or any part of her, that is full of action, and 
applies that action to times, places, persons, and 
their signs, will include those proportions and their 
measures without intending it, almost without know- 
ing it, but never without some perception of their 
propriety and truth.* 

Such is that faithful mirror of life, which oue of 
the most competent 1, judges of antiquity chose to 
consult for the rule of his conduct, rather than the 
abstract systems of speculative writers, unpractised 
in the world ; a compliment, which if it does great 
honour to Homer, does no less justice to the human 
character. For, making proper allowance for the 
heroic state of society, I do not think, that mankind 
is unfavourably represented by the Poet ; nor do I 
find that any modem Chrysippus, or Crantor, has 

A See Inquiry into the Life and Writings of Homer, p. 314. 
b u Qui quid sit pulcbrum, quid turpe, quid utile, quid non. 
Pleuius ac melius Chrysippo et Crautore dicit." — Hor. 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 179 

made discoveries, which ought to depreciate so just 
a picture of mankind. It is flattering to receive, 
from a hand so correctly formed in Nature's school, 
those fair and pleasing delineations of a generous 
sympathy, and social affection, which are inter- 
spersed even amidst the horrors of the Iliad, but 
more frequently in the peaceful and hospitable 
scenes of the Odyssey : here and there shaded, I 
own, with folly and vice enough to put us out of 
humour with the Poet and ourselves, did he not 
kindly throw in a comfortable proportion of phi- 
lanthropy, which gives both warmth and resem- 
blance to the picture. 

Yet so far am I from subscribing to the wild pre- 
tensions of that refined criticism, which discovers 
not only the principles of all arts and science, but 
the most profound system of ethics and politics, in 
Homer, that I consider it to have been of peculiar 
advantage to his original genius, that he was not 
diverted by any hypothesis from a free and impartial 
examination of things ; and that, whatever his plan 
of instruction, either moral or political, might have 
been (for to deny that he had any would be highly 
unreasonable), his choice of characters for that pur- 
pose never carried him beyond Nature, and his own 
experience of life. 

To this unbiassed investigation of the different, 
powers of Nature, and the various springs of action, 
not as they are fancied in the closet, transcribed 
from speculative systems, and copied from books; 
but as they were seen exerted in real life, we owe 
the most correct history of human passions and af- v 
fections, that has ever yet been exhibited under 
one view ; so impartially checquered with the good 
and bad qualities, which enter, in various propor- 
tions, into the composition of every character, that 

m 2 



180 ON THE. ORIGINAL 

he has not left us one complete pattern of moral 
beauty or deformity. 

Nor should we for this reason hastily conclude, 
that he was negligent of the interests of humanity, 
or indifferent to the cause of virtue; there is a cer- 
tain early stage in the progress of manners when the 
mind is more effectually roused to the duties of so- 
ciety by real than by fictitious examples ; and it is 
easier, perhaps wiser, in such a state, to shew u- 
what we may be, than what we ought to be. Such 
were the times, that fell to Homer's lot. To blame 
him for the manners of those times, and to find fault 
with the only materials which he had to work upon, 
is highly unreasonable. 

I must confess, that he sometimes seems to aban- 
don us, to our own fancy, in the labyrinth of his 
great drama of human action, where so many dif- 
ferent paths of life are laid open, not only to the 
judgment, but to the passions of every age, temper, 
and condition. And here, no doubt, those mimetic 
powers which characterize his genius carried him 
too far into promiscuous imitation, where the prin- 
cipal, sometimes the only, merit is that of natural, 
striking, resemblance. But it would be unfair to 
say that he had nothing farther in view ; for while 
he flatters our vanity in letting us liud our own road 
through life, he has not left it too intricate for those, 
who are serious and diligent in search of it. And if 
we giddily lose our way in it, it is our own fault: 
for his morality will bear as scrupulous a test, as his 
religion. 

If, after all, the learned reader finds this method 
too closely confined to pictures of real life for the 
moral epic plan, I beg he will consider, that it VII 
Homer's object to please as well as to instruct. 
And though he does not neglect the latter. I mu>i 



GENIUS OF HOMER. 181 

own he seems to have the first principally in view. 
But, as I have already said, this should be put to 
the test of that state of society, to which it was ad- 
dressed ; when barbarous manners, not prepared to 
receive either plans of Government or systems of 
Morals, wanted the immediate softenings of music 
and poetry ; and men were to be tamed before they 
were taught. It has been the great object of this 
Essay to carry the reader to the Poet's age, and 
country ; before he forms a judgment of him. I 
will venture to say, that it has been much owing to a 
neglect of this consideration, that he has been so 
often complimented with beauties of which he was 
not conscious, and charged with faults which he 
never committed. 

It may be asked, whether Homer is to be esteemed 
a philosopher? 

Had the treatise of Longinus upon this question 
reached us, we should probably have seen many re- 
ferences to the opinions of antiquity upon this sub- 
ject. Strabo does not scruple to put him in the 
class with Anaximander: and it is curious to see 
opposite sects lay claim to him. 

Whatever stress I may lay upon this compliment 
to the Poet as a philosopher : it is certainly a very 
great one to him as a painter; when we see the lead- 
ing writers in ethics consider Homer and Nature as 
the same. 

We have respectable authority for supposing, 
that he has been partial to human nature in his pic- 
ture of life ; and that he has represented men better, 
than they are. See Aristot. Poet. c. 2. But of the 
accuracy of this most interesting part of the Poet's 
imitation, which has for its object the human mind, 
and its various operations and affections, every reader 
is a judge. And if this matter is to be canvassed 



182 ON THE GENIUS OF HOMER. 

by the suffrages of so many ages and countries, to 
whose feelings the Poet has appealed, the question 
seems to be decided; and his impartiality established. 
But I have already wandered from the bumble 
duty of bearing testimony, as an eye-witness, of the 
Poet's veracity. If I endeavour to rescue him from 
errors, nothis own, by bringing within tbeobsen 
of a cursory perusal of his works their truth and con- 
sistence, as to time, place, persons, and things, it is 
as a traveller only, that I can hope to do him that 
justice. I shall therefore resume that character, 
observing the same method in the description of the 
Troade, that I followed in that of Palmyra and Bal- 
bec ; where, after a plain account of the app 
anceof things us we found them, I left the read< 
judge of our conjectures with regard to tin ir ancient 
state. 



A 

COMPARATIVE VIEW 

OF 

THE ANCIENT AND PRESENT STATE 

OF THE 

TROADE. 



Juvat ire et Dorica castra, 
Desertosque videre locos, littusque relictum. 
Hie Dolopum manus, hie saevus tendebat Achilles, 
Classibus hie locus, hie acies certare solebant. 

JEn. U ii. 




i ■ . of ANCIENT TROAS together with the SCAJffAN H\K it And MOUNT IDA 
SMStalwim. anriq MDCCl, 



A 

COMPARATIVE VIEW 

OP THE 

ANCIENT AND PRESENT STATE 

OF 

THE TROADE. 



In order to give the reader a clear and satisfac- 
tory account of the ancient and present state of this 
country, I shall refer him to the annexed Map. 
This was taken upon the spot, and represents things 
as we found them. It must, at the same time, be 
compared with the accounts given by Homer; for 
by these means we shall be enabled to discover the 
variation, which has happened, since the Poet 
wrote. The chief difference consists in this; that 
the source of the Scanrander is now considerablv 

V 

more distant from the Hellespont, than we conceive 
it to have been at the time when Homer saw it. In 
describing these parts, I shall give the reasons upon 
which I found my opinion about this variation. I 
make no doubt, but that the face of the country has 
been considerably changed. This circumstance has 
been brought about by earthquakes, to which the 
regions of Asia Minor are extremely subject. I 
have seen several parts of Ida, and also of Tmolus, 
which have been evidently separated from the two 
mountains by the shock of an earthquake. And 
there are in the plains of the Scamander many 
pieces of massy rock, that are manifestly detached 



186 THE DESCRIPTION 

from the place, where they originally Mood, lint 
as alterations of thi> nature have DOfl been pui 
ally recorded, and arc n<»i easil] to be ascertained, 
I have marked out any variation of ground in tin 
following Map of the country: m\ i bjecf 

being to point out the difference of distance, which 
subsists between the of the ri?er and tin- 

sea. It will therefore be my business t<» shew, that 
such an alteration bas happened : and at the same 
time to put it in the reader's power to judge, bj 
recurring t<» the journal of tin siege of tin- Iliad, 
how far the bounds and disti i bj the 

Poet an- consistent \n i 1 1 i tin* opposite plan, which I 
here exhibit. 



mi 

DESCRIPTION OF THE TROADE 

Juli the twenty-fifth, 1760, we anchored under 
the Sigean Promontorj io our return to the Gn 
islands from Constantinoph : and goii 

the month of the ScamaudiT. We found that the 

country, which is frequentlj infested with banditti, 

was at this time BO si-cure, as to afford US an op- 
portunity, without risk, of carryinj ocutiou 
our scheme of travelling to tin of tin- m 

Upon this information. having hired horses and 
guides, and landed our tint, servants, and camp- 
equipage, we performed in a fortnight the journ 

which may be traced out in the Map. By tin- the 
reader may see, under one view, the onl air 

discoveries, without the tedious formalin 
journal. 



OF THE TROADE. 187 

Having, before we landed, visited the whole king- 
dom of Priam ; and upon another occasion seen some 
of its inland parts, I shall give, in a few words, the 
best idea that I could form of it upon the whole. 

A straight line drawn from the Caicus to theiEso- 
pus would probably very nearly describe the eastern 
and inland boundary of Priam's dominion. Its cir- 
cumference, according to this estimate, includes 
about five hundred English miles. Of this above 
two hundred afford a maritime coast, which is 
washed by the Propontis, Hellespont, and iEgean 
>eas. Few spots of this extent enjoy more natu- 
ral advantages. The climate is temperate and 
healthful: the hills are covered with woods: and 
the fertile plains, whether pastures, or corn-land, 
are well watered* There are mines in the moun- 
tain^ which have never been sufficiently tried. 
There are also mineral waters, and hot-baths, of 
which the natives, to their great benefit, make use 
(qt several disorders. The country produces oil; 
and some parts were of old famous for wine. The 
Greeks assured us from experience, that, if the vine- 
yards hen were properly cultivated, they would 
produce a grape not inferior to the Muscadine of 
Tenedos in its neighbourhood. Its compact penin- 
sular form, and happy situation, together with plenty 
of timber, and variety of commodious harbours, 
render it very tit for trade, and navigation. 

However, if we may venture to form any judg- 
ment upon a matter of such antiquity, it would ap- 
pear from the few remaining fragments, which afford 
any light towards the antiquities of this people, that 
it was a principle both of their civil and religious 
constitution to discourage navigation ; and to favour 
a taste for agriculture, and domestic industry. An 
old prophetic admonition was among them in com- 



188 THE DESCRIPTION 

nion acceptation against the dangers of commerce, 
and it is still preserved. And the peculiar severity, 
with which their laws treated those who were con- 
victed of stealing an ox, or ploughshare, or any im- 
plement of husbandry, is also upon record. Though 
such maxims are not agreeable to the prevailing 
commercial spirit of modern politics, yet, if we con- 
sider the genius and manners of those ancient times; 
there will appear great propriety in them. Upon 
looking backwards, we shall find reason to allow, 
that the happiness of the inhabitants of a region, 
abundantly supplied with all the real comfor 
life within themselves, could not be more rationally 
consulted, than by keeping their attention at home, 
recommending inland industry, and discouraging all 
communication with strangers. 

In short, when navigation and piracy were almost 
synonymous terms, it was wry natural for a people 
abounding with flocks, corn, wine, and oil, those 
substantial and almost only articles of primitive 
opulence, to avoid an intercourse, by which they 
could gain little, and might lose much. For ths 
reason, in those early days, when the law of nations 
was not advanced into that acknowledged and re- 
spectable system, which now countenances a n 
confidential communication among civilized na- 
tions, Egypt, and other rich countries were jealous 
of strangers. Indeed the fate of the Troade has 
justified their fears upon this head: for notwith- 
standing all their precautions, they were thrice con- 
quered and plundered before the time of Homer. 
And this was effected upon such frivolous pre- 
tences, that we may very reasonably suppose, this 
would not have happened, had they not been richer 
than their neighbours. The same temptation was 
probably the motive of the JEolic migration ; a pal- 



OF THE TROADE. 189 

bating term, under which the Greek historians have 
thought proper to transmit their unjust invasion of 
this country. That the first migrations, which we 
find upon record, into this part of the world, were 
made upon this principle of removing from poverty 
to plenty, will be easily conceived by the traveller 
who sails up the Hellespont. For he cannot but 
observe, how much the Asiatic side exceeds that of 
the European both in fertility and beauty. 

Though Homer, speaking of the country of Priam, 
calls it in general Troy, and its inhabitants Tro- 
jans ; yet when he comes to an exact enumeration 
of the forces under their several commanders, 
he distinguishes the people of I lion, the capital, 
peculiarly by the name of Trojans. It is in this 
confined sense, that we call the survey which we 
made, the Map of Troy. In this probably is in- 
cluded little more than the district which Hector 
commanded : and of which we shall now attempt 
to give a more particular description. In doing 
this, we must refer the reader to the preceding 
Map, in which there are two things to be particu- 
larly distinguished : the one is the coast of the 
Troade upon the iEgean Sea; the other the coast of 
the Troade upon the Hellespont. 

Before we come to the inland part of our dis- 
coveries, it will be proper to give a general idea of 
these coasts, as they appeared to us, when we were 
sailing close along the shore. From Cape Baba, 
the ancient Lectum, to Cape Janissari, which was 
the ancient Sigean Promontory, the coast runs al- 
most due north. Upon the first of these Capes there 
is a castle to defend the country from the Maltese 
corsairs, whose invasions are so much dreaded by 
the Turks, that there are few villages to be seen 
upon the shore, till you come near to the Helles- 



190 THE DESCRIPTION 

pont. The coast is covered with Valonia trc 
sort of Ilex, whose bark and fruit are used iu tan- 
ning; and are a matter of commerce. The country 
is less mountainous, as you go north ; till opposite 
to Tenedos, which we kept upon our left. Here it 
exhibits a beautiful shelving landscape crowned 
with woods: and at the same time affords, as people 
sail by, a fine view of the city Troas. and of the 
venerable ruins which surround it. From hence, as 
we still proceed northward, the coast grow e steeper, 
till it at last terminates in the high perpendicular 
cliff, Cape Janissari, which divides the iEgean Sea 
from the Hellespont. As you turn eastward into 
this narrow sea, the same Cape terminate -s by B 
den slope in a beautifully planted plain. Here the 
Scamander dischargcth itself: and at it- month is 
the castle above-meutionedj to defend the entrance 
of the Strait. Oo the opposite ride ifl another erected 
for the same purp Prom Cape Janissari the 

flat marshy shore retires, forming ■ eurve. which 
is terminated eastward by Cape Barbieri. This was 
the ancient Rhceteum : and is lower and lesfl abrupt 
than the Cape above. Dardaninm must haw l< en 
near this spot; as we may jndge by the Strait, 
which retains the name of Dardanelle. The castlee 
form the extremity of our Map eastward, which 
were built for the security of this p to Con- 

stantinople. That on the Eorop an tide Mauds. 
where formerly SestOfl waa Bitoated : and that on 
the Asiatic is founded upon the rains of Abydos; 
This was that Abydus, so famed for the bridg 
Xerxes, and for the loves of Hero and Leander. 

Having thus described the pn sent appearance of 
these coasts and seas, we are naturally led to make 
some inquiry into their history, as it is afforded in 
the Iliad. I believe, we shall find, upon inquiry; 



OF THE TROADE. 191 

that the iEgean and Hellespontic Seas are very truly 
distinguished there : and that they are seldom men- 
tioned with such epithets and circumstances, as are 
indifferently applicable to either. In the beginning 
of the first book the priest Chryses, after his un- 
successful petition, is represented as returning home- 
ward, and walking in a melancholy mood upon the 
shore of the boisterous, or turbulent sea. The situa- 
tion of the city Chrysa shews, that the iEgean Sea 
is alluded to in this passage : and this is farther 
manifest from the epithet turbulent or boisterous : 
for this term might as well be applied to the Da- 
nube or Nile, as to the Hellespont, and therefore 
must be appropriated to the sea below. Neither 
the Hellespont nor the channel have breadth enough 
to be boisterous : and I must observe, that the epi- 
thet insaniens, which a Horace applies to the latter, 
is very improperly taken in that sense. At the 
same time nothing can express more happily, than 
this term, the contrariety of currents for which that 
Strait is remarkable. 

In the same book of the Iliad, b Achilles is described 
as retiring to indulge his resentment upon the 
frothy beach, and as looking upon the dusky main. 
hi this passage we have an extensive prospect of 
the sea, whose waves break upon the shore: and 
herein is exhibited a picture which corresponds 
with the iEgean Sea only ; near which we know, 
that Achilles was stationed. While this Sea is in 
this manner described, the Hellespont is either dis- 
tinguished by epithets, which are adapted to that 
Strait only, or pointed out by the circumstances of 
the camp, and fleet, in its vicinity. 

There is something remarkable in the epithet broad, 

* Insaiiienlcm navita Bosporum 
Tentabo L. iii. Od. 4. b L. i. v. 350. 



192 THE DESCRIPTION 

which is more than once by Homer given to the Hel- 
lespont: for it seems to he improperly applied to a 
sea, which is narrower than many rivers. And j 
this Poet is not single in representing it in tfa 
light, for Orpheus speaks of the broad Hellespont. 
Eustathius and other Commentators have endea- 
voured to explain this term, but in a manner, 1 
think, not satisfactory. I shall therefore beg 
to offer a conjecture upon thi> head, m hich occurred 
to me upon the spot. 

When I was sailing upwards from the iEg- 
into the Hellespont, we were obliged to make our 
way against a constant smalt current ; which, with- 
out the AMMFtanee of a north wind, general I v nilM 
about three knots in an hour. At ihr 
were land-locked on all sides : and nothing ap- 
peared in view, but rural scenery ind » wry nl»! 
conveyed the idea Of a line river, running through 
an inland country. In Ibifl Situation 1 could hardly 
persuade myself, that 1 w »a; and it i 

natural to talk of its comparative great breadth, ifl 
to mention its embouchure, its pleasant stream, 

woody banks, and all those circuin- which 

belong to rivers onh. The epil tring 

or rapid, which the Poel applied to it (but ne\erto 
anv other sea) shews that he considered it tnereli 

a running stream; and Herodotus, who visited I 

Hellespont with the curiosity of a traveller, actually 
calls it a river. 

The description given by Homer of Mount Ida 
corresponds with its present state: for its many 
summits are still covered with pint -in i>. and 
abounds with fountains. In a journey which we 
made over part of it by night, the constant howl 

• A>ap.H)o» t\V -I i . M. v. 30. IV 

Ayni pou^'h 6 ioti (r<po£pa ptvpara ol. 



OF THE TROADE. 193 

of jackals, and frequent brushing of wild beasts 
through the thickets, with the perpetual murmuring 
of rills, supplied by a constant succession of springs, 
gave us a very lively idea of the rites of Cybele : for 
her celebrities used to be carried on at the same 
late season in these high woods, amid the noises 
and wild scenery above mentioned. 

Mount Gargarus, Cotylus, and Lectum, have 
only changed their names ; and make the same con- 
spicuous figure, which distinguished them in the 
Iliad. Pliny indeed observes, that the rivers men- 
tioned by Homer did not answer to the appearances 
exhibited in his time. This is not to be wondered 
at in a country which is very subject to earth- 
quakes. We find, that in these mountains was the 
great magazine of wood for firing, as well as of timber 
for other uses. Of these pine-trees both Paris and 
iEneas built their fleets. Virgil's hero could not 
have made choice of any spot so proper for building 
his ships, as Antandros, at the foot of Mount Ida. 
His escape to it out of the town must have been by 
some gate opposite to that, by which the enemy had 
entered, and got possession of the town. The road 
from thence to Antandros was the most secure, and 
the place itself the most retired and safe from the 
Grecian fleet of any upon the whole coast. Its con- 
venience in respect to ship-building was a necessary 
circumstance to iEneas; and would naturally strike 
the Roman Poet; in whose time this port was 
the mart for the timber of this province. There are 
however two anachronisms in one line of the Poet's 
account when he tells us, 

Classemque sub ipso 
Antandro, ac Phrygian molimur montibus Idae. 

for Antandros was not in those times built; nor 
was the region of Troas then called Phrygia. 

N 



VJ4 THE DESCRIPTION 

We visited the present source of the Scamander ; 
which springing from the rock, distends itself im- 
mediately into a shallow circular bason, of seven or 
eight feet diameter, under the shade of a plane-tree. 
From hence dripping in a small quantity down a 
romantic woody cliff, it is soon joined by another 
stream, before it winds into its northern direction. 
From this source to the present mouth of the 
Scamander may be about twenty-three miles in a 
straight line : but far more, if we take in the wind- 
ings of the river ; which for so short a course passes 
through a great variety of country. From its foun- 
tain-head, till it is arrived belon Chiffik, it ratlin 
tumbles than flows; patting all the way down woody 
steeps in a ragged and ||QD] channel. Fruin thence 

to the ruined bridge it glides through ■ rich plain, 

till it comes to Ene, the most considerable filing 
this country, where there i> a irooden bri ■ er it. 

Not far from hence it receives the Simo'N amid corn- 
fields, interspersed with tine mnlbt -rry-tr* I l< From 
the ruined bridge to Bornabaschi the course of the-. 
united streams lies through a rocky mountamon> 
country, thinly covered with pines, and BOOM Other 
trees; and having a \ try Alpine appearance. The 
vale, through which it winds anions these hills, is 
irregular as to breadth : for in some places it takes 
up little more space, than that which the river oc- 
cupies in winter. At the time, when we saw this 
river, we found it confined to a small part of its 
channel which was only tilled in the latter season. 
We accordingly pitched our tent in its dry gravell\ 
bed close to the stream, which was then so small, 
that a less army than that of Xerxes, might have 
drank it dry. The river, in this exhausted state, 
had very fine falls below Chirlik. At Bwnbaschl 
it c|iiits the chain of hills, which it had entered at the 



OF THE TROADE. 195 

ruined bridge, and steals through a marshy flat; 
which, where it is drained and cultivated, is ex- 
tremely fertile quite down to the sea. During this 
last part of its course the current was scarcely per- 
ceptible. Bornabaschi signifies the fountain-head; 
and there is a fine rivulet so called. This gives name 
to the village before mentioned, which consists of half 
a dozen huts. The water here gushes out of the rock 
in such quantities, as to form immediately a stream 
more considerable than any that we saw in the chan- 
nel of the Scamander. However, hardly any of this 
water joins that river ; but stagnates among the 
reeds of the marshy plain, notwithstanding a drain 
has been made by a Turkish governor to carry it 
downward to the iEgean Sea. The plains at the 
mouths of the Cayster, Ma?ander, and other rivers of 
Asia Minor, which are constantly encroaching upon 
the sea, make exactly the same appearance with this 
spot. For all these rivers are choked up, and stag- 
nate io summer among the soil and rubbish, which 
are brought down by their violence in winter. At 
the time, when we saw the Scamander, it was in its 
lowest state ; and had not water sufficient to sup- 
port one continued current from its source to the 
sea. It consisted of a succession of several small 
streams, produced from different springs ; all which 
were absorbed in the gravelly channel, after a short 
and languid course. 

But we could easily see by the breadth of its 
channel, and the length of the three bridges over it, 
that it must make a very different appearance in 
winter. And indeed, though we had not been told 
by the inhabitants of the dreadful ravages, which its 
violent equinoctial and winter inundations produce, 
they were very easy to be conceived, from many 
evidences before us. For we could observe stones 

N 2 



186 THE DESCRIPTION 

of a considerable size, which had been brought down 
from the mountain : also shrubs and trees torn up 
by the roots, together with mud and rubbish of dif- 
ferent sorts. Some of the soil was to be seen twelve 
or thirteen feet from the ground, sticking to trees 
near the banks, where the overflowing in the rainy 
season had lodged it. This was particularly to be 
observed between the ruined bridge, and Boma- 
baschi ; for here the stream is confined, and cannot 
vent its rage by spreading. 

I have been thus particular in describing this i 
both in its turbulent and in its placid and exhai 
state,because 1 think, that the reader may find t; 
of both in the Iliad. The circumstance of a fallen 
tree, which is by Homer described as reaching from 
one of its banks to the other, affords a \ i i v jusfl idea 
of its breadth at the season, when we saw it. <>n 
tin other hand, he could not have employed a more 
effectual power for the total demolition of the Greek 
intrenchmenl, than the same river m its >tate of vio- 
lence : and perhaps the furious raTages, and sudden 

devastations of the Scamander, may have furnished 
the hint of that very bold allegory. 

When we look upon the regions of Troas, as re- 
presented in my map, it will be found, I bi lie\< 
differ from the history of the counti •] 
by Homer. This difii consists in ha? iug the 

distance of Troy from the sea increased : for the sea, 
by an accretion of land, is farther off than it w 
old. The present town indeed stands upon the sea ; 
but this is not the Troy o( Homer: for that was 
higher up, and looked towards the Hellespont, and 
not towards the JEgean. I am likewise very cer- 
tain, that the situation of the Scamander is conside- 
rably changed from what it was in the days of Homer: 
and the reasons for my opinion are these. The hot 



OF THE TROADE. I97 

spring, accordiug to the Poet, was one of the sources 
of this river : but it is now much lower than the pre- 
sent source, and has no communication with the 
Scamander. The fountains, whence the river took 
its rise, were, according to Homer, close by the walls 
of the city : but the ground about the fountain, which 
we saw, is too steep and rugged for the situation of 
a city. Such a situation cannot be made to accord 
with the pursuit of Hector, and with many other in- 
cidents in the poem. The distance also of the pre- 
sent source from the Hellespont is far too great to 
admit of the actions of the day. Not but "that the 
city was far removed from the sea : for the Grecian 
camp and navy could not be seen according to the 
situation allotted by Homer. And perhaps Virgil 
has been wrong in supposing that the city could be 
discovered even from a tower: for in that case it 
would have been needless to have sent Polites to 
the tomb of JEsyetes to reconnoitre the enemy. In- 
deed it is probable from the plan, which the Roman 
Poet gives of Troy, that he never took an opportu- 
nity, when he was in Greece, of going over, and 
visiting this region. Whatever change there may 
have been in respect to the source of the Scamander, 
it must have happened, before it was visited by 
Strabo. He seems to have found things in much the 
same state, as we have been now describing them : 
and, comparing them with the account given by 
Homer, he concludes, that an alteration must have 
happened since the time of the Poet. I shall 
therefore venture to fix the ancient source of the 
river, and the situation of the city itself, lower down 
than the springs of the Scamander; though higher 
than the plain : a situation, which seems best to cor- 
respond with the description given by Homer. 
As to the junction of the two rivers, we leave it 



198 THE DESCRIPTION 

as we found it: though we have reason to think, 
that these rivers were always united before their 
streams reached to the ruined bridge. To say the 
truth, the frequent shiftings of these torrents, and 
the changing of their beds, of which we could per- 
ceive marks in this place, leave us in a manner at 
liberty to fix their junction in any part, which b< M 
agrees with the action of the poem. 

That part of the course of th< Scamander, of 
which we have no trace in Homer, is from the mined 
bridge to Bornabaschi. There is nothing in the 
Iliad, which affords us any idea of it: though, from 
the manucr in which the ground lies, it is the only 
part of the stream, which we can with tolerable 
certainty affirm to run precisely in its ancient 
channel. 

At Bornabaschi commences tb< plain, which 
reaches to the Hellespont. Of this it is very l\i- 
dent, both from history, and from present app 
ances, thai a great part has be< n produced since the 
time of Homer. For the land has been inert 
by the soil brought down, and lodged at the mouth 
of the Scamander: just as Egypt has been enlarged 
by the Nile] and other regions by the rivers, which 
run through them. The coast of Asia is particularly 
liable to such increase: and particularly about the 
Mseander. The island Lade was at no great dis- 
tance from the coast, and is mentioned by Strabo 
and Pausanias as lying opposite to Miletus ; but it 
is now joined to the continent. We shall tl 
upon these authorities, venture to cut oft' some miles 
from our ancient Map of the Trojan plain. 

Having thus reduced the distance between the 
fountains of the Scamander and the Hellespont to a 
smaller space; I shall suppose the Grecian camp to 
have occupied the whole of the sea-coast before the 



OF THE TROADE. 199 

city. To prove the necessity of this extent, it will 
be proper to consider the numbers of the army, and 
their manner of encamping. It appears, that the 
whole of their forces amounted to one hundred 
thousand men. These were indeed not encumbered 
with the numerous attendants which are usual in 
modern armies. They had no train of artillery: 
and the simple military manners of those times ad- 
mitted of neither cooks nor footmen. If, however, 
we take in the article of women, we shall, I believe, 
find, that they exceed the numbers which on these 
occasions are usual in our times. It appears of 
old to have been a uniform custom among military 
gentlemen to leave their wives at home ; and to carry 
only their mistresses abroad : and these ladies seem 
to have answered the purposes both of domestic 
convenience and gallantry, as we may conclude 
from old Nestor's housekeeper. In those days the 
females made a considerable part of the soldiers' 
plunder; and what is now so often an officer's ruin, 
was then an article of his riches. If to this account 
we add all the children, which we may suppose a 
hundred thousand Grecian heroes to have produced 
in ten years, we may reasonably suppose that their 
place of encampment could not contain less than 
one hundred and fifty thousand persons. The horses 
and chariots must have occupied a large space; and 
the ships would demand no inconsiderable extent of 
ground. They were drawn up, and secured upon 
the land among the tents : which is a circumstance 
not attended to by Mr. Pope. He falls into fre- 
quent errors from not having observed this promis- 
cuous disposition of the tents and shipping. It is 
true, they were merely transports, and had no small 
boats belonging to them. As to the tents, we may 
conclude from that of Achilles, that they were a 



200 THE DESCRIPTION 

kind of barrack, or hut, constructed for all sorts of 
weather. 

To the front of the camp towards Troy allow- 
ance must be made for the great intrenchment. This 
consisted of a rampart with towers and battlements, 
and was defended by a ditch with palixados, being 
much in the style of fortification which prevailed io 
Europe before the invention of gunpowder. On 
the side next the Hellespont, there was left a space, 
between the camp and the sea, sufficient for the as- 
sembling of the principal officers upon matters of 
moment. The extent of this camp, from right to 
left, is determined by the two well-known promon- 
tories upon the express authority of Homer. One 
extremity reached to the Sigean promontory, where 
Achilles was stationed ; the other to the Ilha-t» an, 
where Ajax had pitched his tents. The centre had 
been allotted to Ulysses, as being the most con- 
venient for consultation, if they at any time stood 
in need either of his eloquence or wisdom. Hence, 
when Agamemnon, upon an emergency, wants to 
assemble the Grecian chiefs, he Ti pairs to the ship 
of Ulysses, which was opposite to that hero's tent, 
and there raises his voice. 

li -r?; & £7r' Oivacnjo^ piyciKrjTti rrji pt\(n 
'H p tv fJLtcraaT^) utki, yeywtpev afuftorepuxre' 
II f.uv eir AiavTog xXiaitje TeXapuJi *■ 
II & eir' A\i\\i]oc, rot p ear^ara ytjac etaac 
Efpvo-nr, ijropetj mavi o«, kai Kciprii ^apwv. 

High on the midmost bark the king appear'd ; 
There from Ulysses' deck his voice wa> heard 
To Ajax and Achilles reach'd the sound. 
Whose distant ships the guarded navy bound. 

In this version Mr. Pope mentions, that the voice 
of Agamemnon from the centre was beard to the 

a Iliad. 0. v. 220. The same is said of the goddtil Brit, A. v. 5. 



OF THE TROADE. 201 

two extremes : and so much is certainly to be in- 
ferred from the original. Yet according to our Map, 
and to the best evidences of antiquity, these ex- 
tremes could not be less than twelve miles : for such 
is the distance between the Rheetean and Sigean 
Promontories: so that the Grecian monarch, who 
was equally removed from both, must have been 
heard six miles each way, which is incredible. We 
must therefore look upon the Poet's language in 
this place, as only a bold poetical figure. 



The chief thing to be pointed out, if it were pos- 
sible to be ascertained, would be the precise situa- 
tion of the city itself. But this, I fear, is not very 
easy, as there are not the least remains, by which 
we can judge of its original position. There has 
been likewise a great change in the face of the 
country by earthquakes, and inundations, of which 
many writers take notice. In how high veneration 
the history of this city was held, may be known by 
the many poems, histories, and dissertations, which 
were composed in its honour. The time of its being 
taken was looked upon as one of the principal eras 
in Greece. Indeed it was many times taken, if we 
may believe the best authors of antiquity. The 
three first calamities which it underwent are men- 
tioned by Lycophron in the person of Cassandra. 

1.TEVU), Irtvw, at (iiffcra, kcu rpnrXa, dopog 
AvBlq 7rpoQ aX/crjj/, /cat diap-rrayag dopwp, 
Kai nvp avavya'Covaav a'iffrioTr)piov. c 

c V. 61. 



202 THE DESCRIPTION 

Much I lament, my dear country, your unhappy 
fate: who are doomed twice, and even three times, to 
behold a hostile invasion: and to see your edifices 
ruined, and the wide-wasting fire prevailing. 

In this account the Poet alludes to three periods; 
in which Troy was taken by Hercules, by the 
Amazons, and lastly by the Grecians, under the 
conduct of the Atridae. To the invasion by the 
Amazons Homer alludes ; but he is silent about 
the city falling into their hands, though it is men- 
tioned by other writers. Troy was also taken, as 
we learn from Plutarch, and Polysenus, by Chari- 
demus Orites : and last of all by C. Fimbria, B 
Quaestor, under Valerias Flaccusin the Mithridatic 
war. 

It has been observed by those who have written 
Upon the subject, that a horse had been always 
ominous to the Trojans. They were first subdned 
by Hercules, when the dispute was about the 
horses of Laonn -don. The Amazons were all eques- 
trian, and our of their device- was a horse: ami 
when the city was surprised by the Grecians, it was 
by means of the wooden horse Doris. Lastly, 
When it fell into the hands of Charidemns, the cap- 
ture was owing to a horse which fell down in the 
entrance of the city, and prevented the shutting of 
their gates. There is an old Latin epigram, made 
upon some person, whose name seems to have beeu 
Asellus, and who had not shewn a proper venera- 
tion for the books of Homer. In this there is an al- 
lusion to the histories above, which describe the 
city as being always ruined by a horse. 

Cariuinis Iliaci libros consumpsit Asellus: 

Hoc fatuin Troja* est, aut Equus, aut Asinu>. 

However, this last-mentioned catastrophe of the 



OF THE TROADE. 203 

city, as well as that under Fimbria, could not relate 
to the ancient Ilium, buttoTroja Nova, which was 
situated at a distance from the former, and was 
supposed to have been built by Alexander the Great, 
or at least greatly enlarged by him and Lysimachus. 
Of this city there are some noble remains : but of 
the true and famous Troy there have been no traces 
for ages : not a stone is left to certify, where it stood. 
It was looked for to little purpose as long back as 
the time of Strabo : and Lucan having mentioned, 
that it had been in vain searched for in the time of 
Julius Caesar, concludes his narrative with this me- 
lancholy observation upon the fate of this celebrated 
city, that its very ruins ivere annihilated. 

Fama duce, tenditin undas, 
Sigaeasque petit famae mirator arenas; 
Et Simoentis aquas, et Graio nobile busto 
Rboetion, et raultum debentes vatibus umbras. 
Circuit exustse noraen niemorabile Trojae, 
Magnaque Phoebsei quaerit vestigia muri. 
Jam sylvre steriles, et putres robore trunci 
Assarici pressere domos, et templa Deorum f 
Implicita radice tenent: ac tota teguntur 
Pergama dumetis : Etiam periere Ruince. e 

f Lucani Pharsalia. L. 9. v. 953. 961. 
* Implicita radice. In this manner I have taken the liberty to 
alter the verse : the common reading being, Jam lassa radice. 



THE END, 



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PROLEGOMENA 

A D 

H O M E R U M 

S I V E 

DE CARMINUM HOMERICORUM 

ORIGINE AUCTORE ET AETATE 
ITEM QUE 

DE PRISCAE LINGUAE PROGRESSU 

ET PRAECOCI MATURITATE 



SCRIPSIT 

RICHARDUS PAYNE KNIGHT. EQ. 

RURSUS EXCUDI IUSSIT 

E T 

PAUCULA PRAEFATUS EST 

D. FR. ERN. RUHKOPF 

DIRECTOR LYCEI HANKOVERANI. 



L I P S I A E 

IN LIBRARIA HAHNIA 

cIjidcccxvi. 



yuum Richardi Payne Knight y Equi- 
tis britanni inprimis splendidi et doctis- 
simi, Prolegomena ad Homerum dignis- 
feima visa essent, quae apud nos quoque 
legerentur, facile Vir honestissimus Gui- 
lielmus Hahn, possessor librariae olim 
Fritschiae, quae Lipsiae floret, sibi a me 
persuaderi passus est, ut ea impensis suis 
repetita praelo harum literarum amicis fau- 
toribusque in manus traderet. Paucissi- 



VI 




studia, quibus Wolfius Heyniusque (caris- 
sima mihi nomina) aliique viri doctissimi 
de his carminibus eximie raeruerunt, ex* 

hibeantur. 

Scr. Hannoverae 
Cal. Jul. cIdidcccxvi. 



D. F. E. RUHKOPF 

Dir. Lye. Hannov. 



S.i. 

Octogesimo post Trojam captam anno, Mycenarum re, 
gnum tenente Tisameno Orestis filio jam sene, magna 
et infausta mutatio rerum toti Graeciae oborta est ex 
irruptione Dorum , gentis semibarbarae, in Peloponne- 
eum *) ; qui vel expulsis vel in servitutem redactis veteri- 
bus incolis , alios ac duriores mores, et linguam rudem 
ac vitio8am secum intulerunt. Pauca et parum certa de 
hac status ac fortunae conversione tradidere veteres: 
cujus tamen gravissimum fuisse momentum ad res Hel- 
lenicas in deterius mutandas, ea ipsa mutatione , quae 
inter Troica et Medica tempora facta est, certissime 
constat 2 ). 

<). II. 
Achaei vel Danai 3 ) veteres, qui expulsi erant, pri*. 
mum in Boeotiam et Atticam sese recepisse videntur; 
atque inde in Asiam paulatim transtulisse, famam se- 
quuti majorum, qui tenia ante aetate bellum iis regio- 
nibus gloria maxima, minimo licet fructu, diu gesse- 
rant. Ibi, cum omnem paene oram maritimam occu- 
passent, urbes quamplurimas condiderunt, quas statim 



1) ThucvJ. 1. T. c. 12. 

£) Vide Heyne in Apollodor. 1. II. c. VIII. s. i. 

5) Sit Graepi universi in Homericis appellati sunt; poetae enim 
vetoes tabulas de *egibu9 Achaeo, Danao, lone, Hellene etc. 
on&a sibi confmxerimt postcii, at eoruni ncmina diversis 
Btirpibus ixnponerent , piorsus ignorasse videntur. 

A 






ab incunabulis praeclaras fuisse , tarn ingeniis quam opi- 
buscivium, Homerica carmina, earum antiquissima et 
aeterna monumenta , satis testantur. 

§. III. 

Quis' fuisset antea rerum Graecarum status; quae 
populorum conditio; quae regum ac civitatum jura; qui 
jnores hominum ; quibus porro artibus, et quo cuku vi- 
tae, emolliti quodammodo, et expoliti essent, ex his 
carminibus cuivis scire licet: omnia enim, facundia ea 
simplici et exquisita, kctorum animis ita obversantur, 
ut depicta potius quam cnarrata videantur. De ipsorum 
autem carminum auctorc we] auctoribus nihil omnino 
6cimusnec scire possumus: ncque enim ipsiGraeci, qui, 
poesi resurgente sexcentis circiter annis post Dorum ir- 
ruptionem, de cjusmodi rebus inquirere coeperunt, ul- 
lam ccitum aut probabilem notitiam de patria, aetate, 
vel nomine poetae obtinere potuerunt. 

§• IV. 

Post direptas autem et in servitutem redactas a ( 
ducibus civitatei A^iae, ingens carminum copia in Grae- 
ciam illata est, ac per urbes et vicos decantata sub no- 
mine Homeri, vatis antiquissimi , de quo multa et in- 
cohgrua narrabant isti homines, qui poemata sparr 
decantabant; atque idcirco paywidbt, i. e. (*uiiu 9 inimtf 
uutdoi J ) appellati sunt. Carmina ipsa in diversorum cor- 
porum compages ab iisdem hominibus congesta vel red- 
acta esse feruntur: atque sumtibus et cura Pisistrati , et 
aliorum forsitan principumvel tyrannorum illius saeculi, 
literis mandata. Ipsum Pisistratum ^rammatiii et critici 

1) Piud;»r. Ncra. If. 



officio functum esse, et Homeri libros , confusos antea, 
sic disposuisse, ut jam inde exstiterint, Cicero e quodam. 
rumore incerto tradidit *). Complures apud posteros 
eadem repetierunt, sublata omni dubitatione; ut solent 
homines in ejusmodi rumoribus tradendis; dum inviti 
etiam, naturali quodam impetu, feruntur in augendo et 
ornando, et pro compertis et indubitatis venditando, 
quaecunque e traditionibus obscuris et incertis accepe- 
rint. At neque Herodotus, neque Thucydides, neque 
Plato, neque Aristoteles , qui tot de Homero, de Pisi- 
strato et filiis ejus, memoriae prodiderunt, tanta in 
poetam beneficia nosse omnino videntur. Aristoteles 
autem, vir rerum antiquarum peritissimus, laudes in 
Homerum cumulat ob pulchram carminum dispositio- 
nem , et artificiosam compagum structuram ; neque un- 
quam suspicatus est, eas laudes ad eorum redactoremPi- 
sistratum, non ad poetam, jure pertinuisse. Fabula ni- 
hilominus sic crevit eundo, ut e fama tenui et obscura 
inter Aristotelis et Ciceroni6 aetatemorta, ac variis de- 
inde circumstantiispaullatim aucta et ornata, Iudaeorum 
tandem somnia de sacrorum librorum interpretatione ae~ 
mulatasit; atque Pisistratus, quemadmodum posteaPto- 
lemaeusPhiladelphus, LXXII grammaticorum opera usus, 
inter quos Zenodotus et Aristarchus praecipuum locum 
obtinerent, Homerica carmina sparsa aut deperdita col- 
legisse et in duo corpora redegisse crederetur z ). Nuga- 
cissimorum hominum putida commenta recensere pudet 
pigetque: tametsi a quibusdam haud indoctis, sed nova- 
rum in re critica et historica opinionum nimium studio- 



1) De oratore 1. III. 

*) Vide Diomed. in VUloison. Anecdol. ap. Wolfii Prolegofla. 

A2 



813, Thucydidis et Aristotelis gravi judicio ct auctor 
praelata esse, dolens indignansque videam ■). 

§• v. 

In dialogo Socratico, cui nomen Hipparchi adjcri- 
ptum est, et qui inter Platonis, dubia auctoritate, rr- 
censetur z ) , Pisistrati filiu3 Hipparchus Horn erica car- 
mina primus Athenis intulisse dicitur, et a rhapsodw in 
ordine, alterum altero excipiente, io Panathenaeis de- 
cantanda curasse; qui mos apud posteros etiam vi- 
guit 3 ); atque inde forlasse fabula de carminibus a Pi- 
sistrato autPisistratidis in corpora collectis et in ordinem 
redactis originem traxit. llhapsodos, qui antea confuse, 
pro suo quisque libitu, singulas singuli rhapsodias in 
Panathenaeis 6acris cantitavcrant , aut Solon, aut Pisi- 
stratus, aut Hipparchus ^varie enim a diversis script 
bus res narrata est) 4) primus cocrcuit et in ordine Ilia- 

i) Jeune Anachai d. Bryant ancient Mythology. Siege 

of Troy etc. Woliii prolegom. in Homerum. 
2) Aclian. Var. Hist. 1. VIII. c. 2. 
jfl ut HXXa ts no/./.d *a] j . oo<fi'az asr«Jtf$*r« , *a) rd 

,: '°' T ,-..;./.. Homeric* Athenis antea 

ta tuxsse, nemo, nisi reiimi amiquarum pi hiatus 

t'uerit, facile credidevit: sed tota narrariuncula siupicionibtts 
justis obnoxia est: inejuissiniis emm conuuentis tie Hippar- 
cho tyranno, ejus Mercuiiis, etc. etc. I , quae quo loco 

habeodatint, Thucydides antea ostenderat. Veri tanien ali- 
quid sublatere potest; quod erueie et in lucetn proferre co- 
nati inmos. 

! abricii Biblioth. Graec. lib. IT. c. II. §. XI. Meliua 

1 a curgns, Philippiet Alexandri magni temporuin orator Athfi- 
mensis, doctus et veridicus, populum Atheniensem sic, lef* 

• tradidit. 
onovdaZov uva* rro<>r/» (< x.^* 

ixaoTT;v Trsvratrt^idu r.J; Jhxi . u6iov nJ* aiimr 



5 

clem et Odysseam ab initio ad finem , alterum altero ex- 
cipiente, in iis sacris decantare jussit; atque inde fama, 
quae postea latius sparsa est, apud Athenienses percre- 
buit, carmina ipsa a Pisistrato vel ejus filiis in ordi- 
nem redacta esse, et earn formam accepisse, qua, Ari- 
siotelis et aliorum criticorum sententia, tantas laudes 
poeta meruisset; cum ille tamen , si iis horrfinibus cre- 
dere libet., ne in somniis quidern ejusmodi formam ani- 
mo concepisset. Aristoteles autem non tanto intervallo 
temporis Pisistratidas subsequutus est; neque carminum 
Homericorum fama per id intervallum adeo tenuis aut 
obscura fuit, ut historiarum omnium et naturae et artis 
indagatorem acerrimum, quid in ea contulissent princi- 
pes illi Atheniensium, fugere potuerit. Plus etiam isti 
rumori homines postea tribuisse videntur, quam primi 
ejus auctores significare vel tradere voluerint: nam libri 
antea confusi non sunt libri inconditi aprincipio, vel 
sua natura diversi, sed ii, quibus, ordine justo compo- 
sitis, postea confundi et commisceri contigerat; atque 
eo sensu verba Ciceronis accipienda, non quo viri do- 
ctissimi Heyne et Wolf ea acceperunt. 

§• vr. 

Praeter Iliadem et Odysseam , Hymnos et Epigram- 
mata, a diversis auctoribus inter Homerica recensita 
sunt : 

l) BaTQ(xxonvonct%la , ranarum et murium pugna, qua 
majoribus operibus praelusisse Homerus a nonnullis 
fertur. Alii Pigreti Halicarnasseo, Artemisiae, quae 
inter Xerxis nararchos strenue dimicavit, fratri, tri- 



noirjxMV Qrtyo>§uod-cu rd enij. p. 209. ed. Reisk. De Solone 
vide Laertii 1. 1, n. 57. 




buerunt r ). Verum enimvero e sermonis indole 2C 
forma, nee non e ecribendi more h di'/.xoig, in tabu* 
iifc 1 ), haud lv atq,\}t'()cug , in pellibus ovillis vel capri- 
nis , quibus Asiani veteres usi sunt 3 ;, Attico cuidam 
poetae prioris aevi potius tribuerim. Galli gallinacei 
quoque cantus matutinus, de quo poetae antiquiores 
vix siluissent, si avis ilia iis innotuisset, hie, ut om- 
nibus jam notus ct familiaris, primo memoratur 4 ). 
Indiae indigena esse videtur avis, ubique terrarum 
jamdudum domestical sed in Samothracum et Hime- 
ren6ium nuromis ar^enteis, sexto saltern ante Chri- 
stum natum saeculo cu ?a occurrit. 
2. * Horn* ti cum Hesiodo, nugatoris cu- 
lam infic^ti commentum, haud alio loco haben- 
dum, quam versus isti extemporanei poetae tributi in 
• ejus sub Hcrodoti prrsona ac nomine venditata. 
< apn hirsuta >] : jnOf^ 

at; ludicrum poemation, de 
quo nihil restat, aut memoriae proditum est. nisi 
quod versu iambico sit compositum; quam ob causa m, 
pm serioris aevi opusculo ccrtissime habendum eel 

4. \4Qctyioua%ia , araneorum pogna. 

5. rt-ourniiw/jct , granna pogna, et 

6. Vctoonayia , stuinorum pugna ; tria pocmatia ludicra, 
a Suida in voce laudata, ct ad imitationem 
fortasse Batrachomyomachiae composita. 

~. Ktfmwnts (cicadarum genus apud Aelian. Hist. Anim. 



O Fabricii biblioth. Grifc, ed. Hade?, lib. II. -. I. 

2) Vide vs. 3. 

5) HerocUt. lib. V. c. 53. 

4) Vs. 191. 

5) Vide Fabric, ib. s. XXIV. no. 10. 



7 
X. 44.)* carmen argumenti perinde ludicri de homini- 
buscallidis, fraudulentis ac versutis; qua vcro forma 
aut quo modo conditum, minime constat s ). 
8. MctpyiTiig, poema satiricum, ludicrorum omnium ce~ 
leberrimum de Margite quodam, nomine fatuo et in- 
epto, qui 

noXX ijtiIgtccto loya , xaxoig d* i)ni6Taro nccvra : 
rel antiquiore forma, 

no?.?, t7TiFiGTa.ro Ftoya. , y.ay.uyg 6 ? tmFtGTa.ro nccvra.'. 
quod facetissimum et jucundissimum fuissc, ex hoc 
quidem fragmento , uti et Aristotelis de eodem judi- 
cio, sentire licet. Homero illud tribuunt ha*ud dubi- 
tanter et Plato et Aristoteles; Callimachus vero ita in 
deliciis habuit, ut imitando expresserit. Merito igitur 
antiquissimum fuisse quivis secure dixerit: nequehae- 
rendum est propter aliud poema ejusdem argumenti 
trimetro9 iambos dactylicis hexametris catalectis per- 
mixtos habens; quod quidem Pigreti Halicarnasseo 
nonnulli serioris aetatis scriptores tribuerunt, cum ta- 
rn en recentiori cuidam tribuere fortasse debuissent. 
Pigres iste totam Iliadem versibus alternis interpolasse 
traditur , et in elegiaci carminis formam, singulis pen* 
tametris post singulos hexametros insertis, redegisse; 
cujus specimen conservavit Suidas sub voce IJiy^g: 

JMfjvw uudf fad n?ibiiddeo) ^f^AiJoe 

JIovgoi, gv yaQ naGtjg ntiQctT t%tig Gocpln?' 
Pari ratione Timolaus quidam Larissaeus dacrylicos 
hexametros singulos singulis versibus Homericis sub- 
didit 2 ). 



i) Vide Fabric, ib. no. 14. 

2) Vide Eustath. in Odyss. prooera, et Said, in TtfioXi*' 



9. * Eni&altt{it,a , et poema perinde amatorium *), 

10. *BnvM%XWes nuncupatum, quia poeta , cum id pue- 
rib decantitaret, praemii loco xi%?.«g y turdos, ab iis re- 
tail en t 2 ). 

11. *^fiui;6viu a Suida laudata, aed nomine tenus tantum 

nota 3 ) % 

12. Tvoifxtu, «ententiae extemporaneae a Pseudo-Hero- 
doto memoratae, et a nugacissimo isto homine for, 
tasse coiifictae. 

i5. E/otowJn; , ab eodem laudata; eed de ea nihil certi 
comperimu 

i4. Oi^uUug uXcootg, Oechaliae evpu^natio, ab Hercale 
nempc; q^i, loles, Eurvti i ae , amore c,: 

urbon < am expngnaVerat et diruerat. Poema alii Ho- 
21 ' . 'iM n phvlo cuidam, eju3hospiti velmagistro, 
trilmerunt 4 ) : melius autem , qui Creophylum islam 
serioris aevi poetam fuisse, quamvis vetu&tum, credi- 
derHfii *). 

*5. ' dc priore Argivorum in T1k bas cxpeditione, 

septem frtem sive libris constans 6 ), cujus hoc initium 
rctulit scriptor certaminis Homeri atque Hesiodi : 

MMiSt &(U TtoivdltfHOV, XTlj 



i) Suid. in "Out;?. 

2) Athenae. 1. II. p. 65. ct XIV- 659. 

5) I" "Oft 

4) Vide Fabric. *b. no. 19. 

5) tovtov Ttitg x«i cV j. na l 

v a,' tor Toiijta ■' 

Plu>t. Lex. Ms. a Bentlejo citato in epi»t. ad Millium Mi- 
lalae Hist, dhron. subjuncta. Oxon. 1691. 

6) Vide Fabric, ib. no. 



9 
Alii quoque memoraverunt, et Pausanias proximum 
Iliadi et Odysseae locum ei assignat x ). 

16. 'Enlyovoi, de Argivorum altera inThebas expeditione, 
qua urbs expugnata erat, JVn? sive carmina septem % 
quorum initium idem certaminis scriptor retulit: 
Nvv avd onXortQvw uvd(/o)v Gcyyojpt&ct, fAoZaav, 
Herodotus dubitanter Homero tribuit 3 ); atque ipsa 
ejus dubitatio poema satis antiquum fuisse demohstrat. 

\J. KvnQia en?], Cypria carmina (ita nuncupata fortasse 
ab insula, in qua primum decantata fuerint), res a 
Thetidis et Pelei nuptiis usque ad Iliadis initia duode- 
cim libris comprehenderunt; ut ex eorum argumentis 
a Proclo collectis et adhuc exstantibus patet. A vete- 
rum nonnullis inter Homerica recensita erant, Hero- 
doto tamen plane adversante 4 ): neque aliquidcerte de 
eorum auctore vel aetate eciri potest, alio aliis tri- 
buente. Iliade autem et Odyssea haud paullo aetate 
posteriora fuisse, ex ipsa fabularum ratione certissime 
constat. 

18. '/hag fitxQu sive ikaaawv, Ilias minor, a nonnullis 
Homero tributa; ab aliis tamen, ratione potiore, Le- 
echeo, poetae Lcsbio serioris aevi, res Iliacas a morte 
Acliillis et armorum judicio usque ad urbis excidium, 
equo intra moenia recepto, amplexa esse videtur 5 )j 
neque dubitandum est, quin ex hoc poemate Q. Smyr- 
naeus ea, quae melioris aevi et felicioris ingenii, 



1) tyu) St trjv rcoiriaiv tavTTjv fisra ys 'iLdda, xal ta l'itt] rcc it 
'OSvaata trcaivu) paliora. Boeot. p. 729. <* 

2) Vide Fabric, ib. no. 7. 

3) tan Si xal 'O/if/pw iv 'Emyovota^ el Srj t<Z ovti }'£ "OfifjQOt 
tavra ra ETtea enol^ae, 1. IV* c. 32. 

4) Lib. III. c. 117. Qf. 

5) Vide Heyiu excurs. in Aeneid. II. 



10 

quam ut sua esse possint, notas prae se ferunt, mu- 
tuants sit *). 

19. ISonxov, de reditu principum Graecorum a Troja, au- 
ctoris ac temporis incerti 2 ). 

20. Kvv.loq, a nonnullis recentiorum apud Suidam et 
Philoponum 3 ) inter Homerica laudatur. Cycli autem 
mythici et epici plures memorati sunt; qui non nisi 
compendia quaedam carminum veterum mythicorum 
et heroicorum a Coeli et Terrae congressu usque ad 
Trojae excidium et Graecorum reditum, eo modo 
connexa, quo Ovidii Metamorphoseon fabulae, fuisse 
videntur 4 ). Nomen tamen "Qftqpog, ex opot/py dedu- 
ctum, cyclicum qucndam significasse videtur, et ad 
corporis poematum auctorem dignoscendura primo 
arihibitum esse; quanquam ex ipsa contracta ejus for- 
ma pateat, din post Homerica tempora, immutata jam 
lingua, efnctum esse. 

A Pseudo-Herodoto 0coxa1\; inter Homerica memo- 
ratur ; si non errore pro (fotMott?, quo nomine ea pars 
Odysseae, qua Phaeacum res narrantur, internosceba- 

1) Qualia sunt 

tv& apa tiZ ulv axoiri; \Tarpoutovoa xiSotpov 

eiTS tTTOixofiirto rrapav^tfs baxpi%ioioa ' 

Tw apa v^tcioi vittf tneiyuutvoi mp] rrarpl, 

rsiyta tarra qipsaxov' 6 3t oqtoir alior 

axvvr od'vpouMOig • or? d' tu-rali fietdtaa 

iraiolv aya/.kouevos" xpaSirj Hi oi iv Sa7 udi. 

v'tountvsv rrorito&at i'-rtp nxivjv ts xal airov' 

ally <T airs yspaioi srrioraui'vr,; -iaXm.ui t aiv 

ctuq-iTt&ii us/Jsoat xax/J; a/.xr/pta z<*. 

TtoXla 7TaQ7;)optujr qi't.ov ilia, ur^in nxttr 
-oki/u? • xa) aripvu rsriuuira Stixrvt xatSi 

rapqia gjjuct' i'yuvra Trakair'* St 4 iot' 
2) Vide Fabric, ib. no. 13. et Harles. ad eund. 
5) In Aristot. Analyt. * 

4) Vide Fabric, ib. no. 1$. 



II 

tur, Graeculus. nugacissimus id usurpaverit; vix enim 
urbs Phocaea heroicis saeculis nota esse potuerat, aut 
fabulis ejusmodi poeticis unquam materias praebuisse; 
quas Herculis res gestae et Graecorum foederatorum in 
Thebas et Trojam expeditiones veterum doidaiv carmL. 
nibus praecipue suppeditabant, 

§. vir. 

Inter carmina autem ea llias et Odyssea gradum 
eminentiorem apudveteres obtinuerant; atque communi 
hominum opinione pro vero foetu vatis antiquissimi 
semper habitae sunt; etsi non defuere, tunc quoque^ 
accuratioris doctrinae et castigatioris judicii viri, qui ea 
perinde poemata haud unius auctoris fuisse crediderint. 
Extitere etiam inter Germanos hujus saeculi viri doctri- 
na et ingenio insignes, qui suspicati sunt, non tantum 
utrumque poema e diverso fonte fluxisse, sed utrumque 
congeriem poematum esse, e variis laciniis diversorurn 
poetarum consutam, et a rhapsodis, qui Pisistratidarum 
aetate floruerint, in duo pulcherrima et absolutissima 
corpora redactam '). 

§. VIII. 

Hanc stispicionem Francogalli quidam, Hedelin ct 
Pevrault, centum abhinc annos primimoverant: sed cum 
neque doctrina neque ingenium audaciae par esset , in- 
eulsa liominum temeritas ab ipsis Francogallis, novarum 
rerum et opinionum alioquin semper avidissimis, irride- 
balur. Hac tamen nostra aetate F. A. Wolfius eandem 
6ententiam amplexus est, ac tanta subtilitate et ingenii 
ct doctrinae illustravit, ut multorum animis dubitationis 
aliquid injecerit. Subsequutus est, vel fortasse praeivit, 

1) Vide W'olfii Proleg. et Heyne in Iliadem. 



13 

vir omnigenae doctrinae er scientiae copiis instrnctissi- 
mus, C. G.Heyne; qui suspiciones contulit, non ta: 
in eirigulas rhapsodias am d^arttag, uti a singulis aucto- 
ribus profectas, sed in singulas rhapsodiarum partes quo- 
que, ita ut Patrodi tntraqpia putaret „varios auctorea 
habuisse, qui .plura certaminum genera cumularunt ad 
fastidium usque , )." 

$. IX. 

Feracia maximorum ingeniorum praeter omnem na- 
turae rationem modnmque fuisse ea saeculaoportet, quae 
tot £ r€ T tttrirent, quorum quilibet carmina 

ejusmodi eJl'udeiit, quae nemo omnium gentium postea 
per triamillia annorum aemulari posset, neque nisi unus 
aut alter probability imitari! Neque minus mirandum 
Cbt, tot poetas, coiiMliis inter se baud communicatis, 
ita, fortuito et casu quodarn f« lici „ ingen: dem 

materia exercuiite, m tparsa coram carmina, sua quasi 
cponte, in corpora singula tarn apte coirent, ut ea cor- 
pora pro excmplaribus absolutisMmis per omnia subse- 
quuta saecula haberentnr; el ppetae apud posteros tanto 
plus laudis tulerint, quanto plus in iis imitandia 
vim lint Dona eftram itaque, quae justam miration* 
fortasse faciant, viri docti rationem reddere conati sunt, 
alia videntur imprndenter introduxisse prorsus inert 
bilia , ac rerum naturae et historiarum fidei plane con- 
traria. 



Audaces satis ac temerarii merito visi sunt, qui re- 
rum naturam _x atomorum concursu fortuito ortam esse 
contenderunt. Eos tamen veniam temeritati impetrare, 

j) In Hi" \ y. 506. vide etiam IB 



i5 

acquura forsitan fuerit, eo quod rerum, quae omnibus 
pariter essent ignotae, nemo certiorem rationem reddere 
posset ; atque, in meris ariolationibus et conjecturis, jus 
omnibus idem. Carminum autem, quibus quis „omnes 
el in omni genere eloquentiae procul a se reliquiase, 
atque ipsa dispositione totius operis humani ingenii 
modum excessisse x ) " visussit, doctissimis etiam judi- 
cibus, ita fortuitam fuisse compositionem, non ratio 
duntaxat, sed ipse hominum sensus communis, et expe- 
rientia quotidiana reclamant. Diversis jam inde saecu- 
lis maxima et fclicissima ingenia in eodem campo sese 
exercuerunt; sed nemo adhuc parem laudemhonoremve 
aut meritus aut consequutus est: in sublime enim Virgi- 
lius, aliena vestigia premens , arte magis quam natura 
asaurgit; lascivientes ingenio Ovidius et Tassus aliquo- 
ties; impetu Lucanus; labore ac sudore Miltonus, oxi]- 
^ntzofjfpog xtqah r* nooivxt — laborat quoque lector, licet 
saepe dclectatus , saepius mirabundus : solus autem Ilia- 
cus poeta, indole propria et vi animi ingenita elatus, ad 
summa quaeque sponte ac natura, non nisu vel inten- 
tionc , pervenit; omnesque omrrigenae eloquentiae gra- 
tias et virtutes ea facundiae felicitate condivit, ut ver- 
sibus innatae, non intextae vidcantur, cultusque ubi- 
que eniteat, nusquam ostendatur, sed quotidiani sermo- 
njs facilitas heroicae grandiloquentiae majestatem tem- 
peret, non minuat, molliat, non enervet. Successores, 
pluviis et stillicidiis undique collectis, rivulos auxisse 
videntur: ipse gurgite vivo exundat, cujus vorticibus 
abripi, hauriri, aique invitum ferri lector quilibet se 
proiinus sentit. 



x) Quiutilian. Instit. lib. X. c. U 



i4 

§. XL 

Videamus nihilominus argumentorum genus, quo 
vlri docti in hac disputatione usisunt; atque ex iis, quae 
clarissimu8 Heyne in cloTiidonouav , Zenodoto olim dam- 
naiam , cumulate concessit, specimen depromptum 
paullo accuratius expendamus. In immensum creverunt 
ingenii et doctrinae copiis, quas vir egrcgius in omnia 
profudit: at summa tamen disputationis ad haec pauca 
redit, atque ex hisce tota pendet. 

Clypei nempe tiioruxiov Achillis omnino nullam 
esse rationem ad carmen ejusque argumentum; nihil in- 
esse, quod conjuncture sit cum ipsalliadis actione; nul- 
lam habere vim ad declarandam Achillis virtutem, facta, 
eventa: animum contra avocat a carminis summa ; de- 
lectat utique, sed aliarum rerum suavitate et varietate; 
porro argumenta rerum expressarum ab opere ejusque 
usu prorsus abhorrent; quorsum haec signa in maim 
pugnantis, quando singula contemplandi otiumkaud < 
Satis erat unam vel alteram speciem . quae ornaret vel 
tcrrcret, Gorgonis vel rlraconis, aut monstri alicujus 
visum oiVerre. Altera r&rte non minus aliena est clypei 
sculptura ab Ilomerici aevi, ne de Tiojanis temporibus 
dicam, rudiore simplicitate ; ipsa tandem episodii narratio 
et oratio multo majore copia et ornatu elucescit, quam 
in caeteris carminis paitibus animadvertimus. In Iliad. 

2\ 4! 

Ipsavero anaglyphaquam otiosa, quam unnoodionoa 
in clypco! quam aliena a persona Achillis non minus 
quam ab Iliadis argumento ! quomodo hoc poetae in ani- 
mum venire potuit, ut in clypeo herois, etsi ornatir 
mum cum clypeum esse vellet, urbes , agros, pascua, 
choreas, cumulatissimis iiguris excusas esse narrai- 



i5 

Excurs. in clyp. p. 588. Si tamen artifex ad ipsum opus 
acceiserat, nullo modo probabile fit, eum ad illud eo 
modo, quo poeta exposuit, elaborandum aggressum esse. 
Sunt enim singulae areae tarn numerosis figuris , ut eas 
seu fundere seu malleo extundere diuturni et immensi 
operis res fuisset; si autem effectum esset, oculorum 
delectationem nullam habiturum fuisset; tam parvae 
enim ac variae et obscurae figurae tarn multis in areis 
operis, quamvis magni et lati, visu vix discerni potuis- 
sent. Ibid. 

Verbo clypeus AchilHs a poeta fingi nequiit, nisi 
jam turn similis artificii opera exstarent, quaecunque 
tandem ilia essent. lb. p. 58s. 

Opera similis artificii haudexstitisse multo antequin- 
quagesfmam olympiadem, vir doctissimus subinde plane 
ostendit; atque ideo, si ejus hypothesi assentimur, to- 
tum episodium aut illius aut serioris aevi esse, negare 
non licet. 

§. XII. 

Haec ita visa esse aut grammatico AlexandrinO aut 
critico Gottingensi mirationem haud facit: omnes enim 
homines de rebus, rationibus et consiliis alienis, e suis 
ipsorum judicare solent, et normam aliquam, cum sen- 
tiendi turn cogitandi, e quotidiana vitae consuetudine 
eibi fingere. PhiJosophorum collegiis innutriti, atque in 
scholarum umbraculis vitam degentes , intellectum exer- 
cere magis quam aftectibus indulgere, aut sensibus animi 
nativis vacare , assueverunt ; atque ejusmodi hominibus 
ftolenne est pascere et instruere ingenium ex opinionibus 
jamdudumreceptis, et usu et auctoritate quadam publica 
sacratis, potius quam e rerum experientia, eventuum 
observation^ aut aliorum hominum commercio. Omnia 



igitur ad hasce opiniones redigere et quadrare sclent; et 
quotiescunque aliquid in re critica oftendant, qaod bis 
adversari visum sit, id ab auctoris consilio ac tunima 
lienam judicare, et praccidendi vel muiandi 1U 
biuine auirnos imbutos habere. 

§. XIII. 
Fortae autem, qui ejofmodi fapiemiam prorsus 
ignoi at 

/.oi»» uvO< ,w 7yirm % 

alia crat omnino gumma consilii al . quam 

4 nti( i < i tri 

moa 

moi 

iorum tumuliibtis agitare ac tci nunc 

conjugum ct amantium colloquiia, aut qi. 

tie amoenitatibua raulcere acplacare. Conti- 
inui pugnarum a< nun 

; b«« ipsam et a 
atijur i >m- 

ima . di< 
run 
obd;. 

xiu^- occasionem 

ut eju ornamenta ad Acuilli* poiius quam ad Yul 
ThcUdis imi induUm adapt! 

tndum er.it; cum ejus modi smbtiles et an 
uioiuias audita. .ie postulaluri, neque I 

suri cssent. 

§• » 

Si autem Achilles in oratione ca - callidi. 

tatem, aut I rvidam Achiliis vehementiam usur- 



If 

passet, nemo erat, qui non statim offenderetur ; in diju- 
dicandis enim diversorum hominum diversis moribus, 
et in sermonis specie, quae unicuique apta fuerit, dis- 
criminanda, haud paullo acutiores redduntur animorum 
sensus quotidiano rerum usu, quam philosophorum aut 
criticorum sapientia: sed quaenam armorum ornamenta 
du« i unicuique convenient, hominis est theorema in 
ludo literario aut artincis officina magis quam inacie aut 
foro, aut aliis cjusmodi negotiis, versati, 

§. XV. 

Neque poctam, at clvpeum fingeret, similis opificii 

opera nosse oportcb..t, magia quam statuas sese sponte 

moventcs, quales paullo ante finxerat 1 ), vidisse: neque 

satis inirari jKK-sumus, Heynium, tantum virum , di- 

e, „quidquid fmgimus ad 6imilitudinem alicujus rei f 

quae natura vel arte naturam adumbrante , jam sensui 

ecta fuerit, ammo conceptum esse;*' cum tironibus 

in no turn sit, id rerum esse de simplicibus tantum- 

!o, et primariia animi notionibus et conceptis; equi- 

composita pro libitu confingere unicuique liceat. 

Hinc profecta sunt monstra ilia rerum naturae ignota, 

quae Ae^yptii et Indi dcorum loco venerari solebant. 

Artium projiressui ac consuetudini magis consentaneum 

est, clypei ejusmodi archetypum a poetae phantasia po- 

tius quam artificis inanu profectum esse: lovis enim 

imaginein illam sublimem , quam adhuc simulacris anti- 

qui6 miramur, non poeta ex artincis alicujus opere, sed 

Phidias e poetae versions efnnxit: atque ita necesse est, 

omnia omnium artium inventa mente prius concepta 

esse, quam manu periicerentur. 



1) Iliad. 2. 376. 

B 



i8 



§. XVI. 

Poetae autem munus solenne et peculiare est, non 
tantum naturae operibus artis epeciem obducere, sed 
naturam ipsam tanquam dei artem exhibere : unde m - 
monc poetico omnia, etiam quotidiana horainum ne- 
gotia ac rerum vicissitudines, deorum ope et minist 
fiunt: neque vir dociissimus magis oftendi debut; 
quod clypeue tarn orratus, et tanta artis subtilitate elabo- 
ratus, intra paucarum horarum spatium malleo et incude 
a Vulcano perficeretur , quam quod Iupiter fulgura et 
tonitrua rnanibus ex Ida in planitiem Trojanam jaculare- 
tur. Si deorum opera iisdem rationibus atque hominum 
fieri credidissent veteres, et poeta curiosum critici ho- 
dierni ingenium sortitus csset, Vulcano fortasse scalprum 
et ]ovi fundam tribuit>set. Moribus autem illorum tem- 
porum simplicior miraculorum expediendorum ratio t 
veniebat; et cum poeta clypeos et tuoraces , rudibus 
forte figuiis , mallco extusis, aut acu *to im- 

pressia, ornatoa vidisset, perfacile erat \ 
nio majorem in imitando solertiam ac peritiam ueo tri- 
buere, atque plcniora argumenta, ex omni rerum natura 
collecta, ei subjicere. Ncque, quomodo, aut quibus i 
etiumcntis divina ilia opera perfjcien 
talia essent, qualia ab nomine ullo, aut ullo instrumento, 
perrici potuissent, cura erat ei inquirerc: instituto enim 
eufficiebat, laeta esse ac jucunda, atque ad animos audi- 
entium deliniendos ac delectandos apta. Si Cuusarum et 
eventuum rationi et congruentiae potius quam audien- 
tium delectationi studuisset, quam longissime ab iai 
tuto aberrasset, cum ducem exercitus, ardescente pugna, 
abstraxerit et in urbem miserit, nullo urgente r 
nisi ut auguris mandata, praeconi cuilibet tradenda, ct 



*9 
alioquisine effectu evasura , matri perferret. At scena 
jam mutanda erat; et post tot virorum strages , tarn 
multiplici varietate enumeratas, fastidio et satietati oe- 
currendum, diversa aliqua rerum specie obtenta, qua 
alii animorum affectus commoverentur: neque opportu- 
nity quidquam nee efficacius induci poterat, quam He- 
ctoris cum conjuge colloquium; quod ideo omnino pro- 
ferendum erat, etseriei narrationis quocunque modo in- 
texendum; neque, qua verisimilitudine id fieret, magno- 
pcre fait ei curandum, cum auditores homines rudes et 
simplices, imaginum illecebris delinitos et delectatos 
juditrs parum severos in causis expendendis et rationi- 
bus exigendis experturus esset. 

§. XVII. 
Disputationis suae conclusionem ipse vir doctissi- 
mus timere videtur: tanta enim experientia et usu lin- 
guae Graecae edoctus , vix hoc episodium pro opusculo 
eeptimi ante Christum natum saeculi habere potuit, cum 
serio et ex sensu animi sui, non e praesumptis opinioni- 
bus, judicium proferret: saeculi enim istius poemata 
extant; neque alii tribuerim Batrachomyomachiam, lu- 
dicram illam Homericorum imitationem, quae inter Ho- 
mprica ab antiquis semper recensita est. In eo autem, 
alioquin haud inficeto, poematio quam diversa et ab 
hoc epibo<iio aliena sunt omnia! alii mores, alia gram- 
matica, alia prosodia, alia sententiarum structura, alia 
denique lingua! Ipsa etiam Odys6ea haud paullo vetu- 
stiorem hanc onlonouctv esse eo constare puto, quod Jyrae 
chordae, quae in ilia ex ovium intestinis, ut postea, 
factae traduntur 1 ), in hac e lino, rudiorum et anti-. 



1) Odyss. #. 403. 

B 2 






SO 

quiorum hominum materia, fiunt *). Neque dubitandum 
est, quin poeta hocVulcani opificium animo proposkum 
habuisset, cum antea Patroclo omnia AchilHs arma in- 
duerit, praeterhastam 2 ); quae, utpoteligno instauranda, 
dei ofRcinae haud conveniret. 

$. xviir. 

Speciem probabiliorem potius quam vim validiorem 
habent argumenta, quae viri docti attulcrunt in! 
versus Odysseae 3 ); quos omnes, splendidissimos li 
acpulcherrimos, Aristarchus et alii veterum grammatico- 
rum pro insititiis et diversi poetae foetu habuere 4 ); ne- 
que infitias ire licet, narrationem de simplici mortuo- 
rum evocatione hisce versibus turbari; ac novam scenam 
et diversam rerum speciem, inopinato et nulla ratione 
reddita, obtrudi, cum, omnibus ejectis, caeterorum j 
ctura apta et congrua fieret, atque narratio integra et 
continua. Omnia tamen , tarn de loco quam de ratio- 
nibus , quibus ea evocatio fiebat, obscura et perp! 
sunt; atque Ulysses , etiamsi magicis quibusdam ?acris 
a Circe edoctus manes evocasse super ripamOceani ulte- 
riorem dictus sit 5 ), se ad Inferos descensurum paullo 
ante praedicaverat 6 ), et descendisse postea professus 
est 7 ) , ita ut sontium poenas ei vidisse licuisset. 

§. XIX. 
In poeta antiquissimo , qui nihil aliud sibi propo- 



O Hiad. J. 5-0. 

2) lb. 7T. 130. et schol. Ven. 

3) Odyss. A. 564 — 026. 

4) Vide scJiol. Ven. in 11. B. 5~Q. schol. in Pindar. Olyxnp. I. 
91. et not. in Euripid. Orest. 5. Lond. i~ 

5) A. 54 etc. 

6) A'. 564. 

7) .V. 21. 



r 



21 

suerat, quam rudiam hominum aures carminum dulce- 
dine mulcere, et animos speciosis fabularum miraculis 
ac splendida imaginum et sententiarum varietate com- 
movere et delectare, philosophicam earn subtilitatem, 
quae e rerum naturalium scientia jam adulta profecta 
est, vix aliquis antiquitatis paullo peritior desideraret; 
praesertim in religionum tenebris, ubi, quo quaeque ob- 
scuriora, eo magic* veneranda etmagnifica. Critici autem 
Alexandrini, qui versus mutando, amputando et eji- 
ciendo ciudas et informes rudium animorum notiones 
de ejusmodi rebus ad rationem quandam philosophicam 
redigere annitebantur, fiustra laborarunt: nam res ipsae 
inter xtQura religionis et poesis sunt, quae a philosophia 
maxime abhorrent. Virgilianae etiam fabulae de lnferis 
fix magis inter se congruae, aut rerum naturae consen- 
taneae sunt; cum in imis terrarum visceribus animae , 
inclusae — ,,solemque suum, sua sidera norunt;" ne- 
que, si historiae et origines carminum Virgilianorum 
perinde ignotae essent atque Homericorum, dubitaverit 
forsitan Aristarchus aliquis serioris aevi omnem locum 
de piorum sedibus, tanquam diversi cujusdam poetae 
foetum, perinde repudiare. 

§. XX. 
Gravius est profecto, quod vir doctrinae copia et in- 
genii jubtilitate summus e Pindari Olymp. I. 91. etc. 
cvincere conatur, totum scilicet de sontium poems lo- 
cum exemplaribus, quibus usus sit lyricus, defuisse, at- 
que ei prorsus ignotum esse l ): sed fallitur vir doctis- 
simus; Pindarum enim in animo habuisse versus de 
Tantali supplicio vix dubitandum est, cum eum dixit 



1) Not. in vs. 5. Eurip. Oiest. Lond. 1798- 




22 

tyctv fjLitd tqiujv Tizaorov tt6vop 9 quartam habere poenam 
(eaxum nempe super caput tfuspensum; pott tres; quae 
sunt Homericae illae dixpa, xul liuog, x«i czuotj it 
Haud taraen nescius sum, Pauwium xnu^Kv in i 
inutasae, et recentiores quosdam editores foedam banc 
inbulsi hominis corruptelam in textum re 
simum autem professorera Cantabrigiensem ea deceptum 
esse, non suspicari decet. Neque eum in I 
pretatione, uXlov in alXcu, consensisse teraerc credendum 
est. 

§. XXI. 

Quod in hujusmodi quaestionibus maximi est mo- 
menii ad judicium recte constituendnm, sermo antiquus 
est et Horaericos, qualem nemo rhansodorum , vel 1 
dari vel Pisistrati aetate, purum et nitidum per tot ver- 
sus conser\ asset; quo praecipue commotus, lo< 
eplciulidum pulcherrimunuj' cujuscunque po 

ingenio dignum , a totius carminis auctore abjiidit 
ob causas e critica vel philosophica subtiliiatc du« 
non ausim; tametsi suspicionibus obnoxiuin es 

ivtiim. Auctorem nmiquissimum esi 
carminibusPisaudri et aliorum prior 
constat, quod Herculi arcum, clavam 

cum illi atque omius posterioris aevi poetae Herculem 
clavigerum exliibuerint *). 

WII. 
In carminibus Homericia omnia, quae communi 
homfnum sensui nut quotidianae observatioui o 
rentur, accuratfssime ubique descripta vel potius de- 
picta sunt, ita ut sibi invicem ac naturae rerumaptissime 

XV. p. 655. Suid. in 1L, 




2i> 

semper constent: siquid eriim ejusmodiinscite tractatum 
esset, auditores, quamvis rudes alioquin, at earum ta- 
rnen. rerum ohservantissimi, protinus sensissent atque 
irrisu ac sibilo cxcepissent. Quae autem inente sola 
concipipossent, parum curabant, an congrua, an incon- 
grua essent: neque rationem inventorum a poetis requi- 
rebant: quo fit, ut omnia de Superis aut Inferis, de 
Olympo aut Hade, de deorum aut mortuorum sedibus, 
confusa, incerta et incongrua sint. Olympus nunc 
cc/uipiqog et nolvnrv'S, est, ut mons terribilis, nunc coe- 
lestis quaedam beatorum regit* 
*■ — oi/V atvifxotm xcvaaanai , ovre not ofipyo) 
Aevtxai, orii %uav liu&ilvatou, • alia pal a'i&Qtj 
Tlinxaxai ui<vtqt\o$, lewi] d ijudedooptv a'tylrj. 
Neque de mortuorum statu aut sedibus in regione tene- 
bricosa quadam ultra Oceanum, quern fluvium esse, et 
totum terrarum orbem continuo et aequabili cursu amb- 
ire, et iterum in se ipsum redire putabant, plenior ali- 
qua aut certior notitia est. Poeta, quae accepisset, tra- 
didit, aucta fortasse etornata, et audientes, quae prorsus 
nescirent, ingenita animi aftectione credere quam ar- 
guere maluerunt. 

<$. XXIII. 
Argumenta nequaquam leviora in episodium elegan- 
tissimum Iliadis F. 121 — 244. urgenda sunt: nam omni 
rerum rationi atque hominum fidei contrarium est, Pria- 
mum non antca vidisse aut cognosse Graecorum duces, 
qui decimo jam anno bellum sub moenibus Trojae gere- 
rent : neque Helenam antea scisse , utrum sui fratres ei 
bello interfuerint necne. At carminum primi auditores 
non adeo curiosi erant, ut ejusmodi rerum rationem 
aut exquirerent aut expenderent : neque earum fides e 



subtilioribus congruentiis omnino pendebat: monendi 
enim sunt etiam atque etiam Homericorum studiosi, ve« 
teres illos doidovg non lingua professoria inter viros cri- 
ticos et grammaticos , aut alios quoscunque argutiarum 
captatores , carmina cantitasse; sed inter eos , qui sen- 
sibus aiiimorum libere, incaute et elYuse indulgerent; 
neque affectus naturales aut philosophiae aut alius cu- 
juscunque sapientiae echolasticae fuco oblevissent; ne- 
que eo rum impe turn cultioris vitaeclegantiisobturiisM nt. 
Perperam itaque doctissimusHeyne observat, ,,hoc C] 
odium nullum vinculum com ipsa carminis rerum sum- 
ma habere tarn necessarium, ut a primo auctore p;o- 
fectum virlori debeat" (in Iliad, r. 122.): omne enim 
eummae rerum ac poetae instituto necessarium erar, quod 
animos audientium varietate rerum et imaginum cap: 
ac per vices irritare et mulcere poterat. Si nihil pr. ; 
ducum rixas , pugnas et consilia carminibus celebra 
rudium hominum aurcs, quae satietate ac fastidio facile 
afficiuntur. haud diu tenuisset. 

§. XXIV. 

Si mi! em ob causam vir doctus suspicatus est, Dio- 
medis uoiarfiav singulare aliquod carmen constituisse; 
quod postea in lliadis textum receptum fuerit. A 
contextum illud, ejecia hac parte, ipse legisset eo acu- 
mine et judicio, quo solet, omnia manca et mutila facta 
esse, facile sensisset; adeo multa sunt ac necessaria, 
quae ex ea pendent; ut Hectoris et Andromaches con- 
gressus et colloquium ; Paridis in pugnain reditus et Dio- 
medi ab eo vulnus illatum; Nestoris e periculo liberatio 
ope equorum, quos ab Aenea Diomedes abstulerat; eo- 
rundem equorum in certamine funebri apurrtia; Diome- 



2D 



dis rebus a se gestis Mentis oratio in prinoipum consilio 
adversus Agamemnonem fugam suadentem; atque inde 
legatio Ulyssis, Ajacis et Phoenicis ad Achillem , qua 
eo usque pacata est ejus ira, ut reditum in patriam dis- 
tulerit; unde omnia, quae subsequuta sunt, ratione 
probabili atque ordine justo ac naturali procedunt, et 
corpus integrum e rnembris de se invicem mutuo de- 
pendentibus constitutum est, e quo quemvis dempseris 
lapidem, tota compages luxata hiabit. Latericia tantum 
et albaria posterorum additamenta, quibus marmoream 
poemalis structuram male seduli imitatores, dum repa- 
rare et ornare cupiebant , foede commaculaverunt, amo- 
venda sunt, ut tota ejus pulchritudo, per omnes partes 
uno tenore diffusa, plane clareque eniteat. Poeta et 
Diomedis res gestas (E. i-5io.) et ejus exinde oratio- 
nem (A 5i-49.) jam turn in animo adumbratas plane 
habuit, cum eum , injuria ab Agamemnone objurgatum, 
tarn modeste ac verecunde silentem exhibuit {A* 4oi - 2.). 

§. XXV. 
De episodio provocations ac pugnae Hectoris et 
Ajacis — 11. //. 17. — diversa, et sibi invicem repu- 
gnantia judicia tulit idem vir praestantissimus : primo 
enim, suspicari se innuit, singulare id fuisse carmen , et 
serius in Iliadis compagem receptum *): at postea, cau- 
aam ac rationem , qua pugna sine exitu intercepta et 
tlirempta esset, in totius carminis oeconomia, 1. e. in 
ipsa ilia Iliadis compage, quaerendam esse censuit; quo- 
niam ea utrumque heroem superstitem esse postulave- 
rat 2 ). Si autem vir egregius singulare et integrum 



1) In Iliad. II $8- 

2) In vs. £75. 



26 

aliquod carmen , aut ex hoc, aut ex alio quo via hujua- 
modi episodio, conficere conatus esset, membrum so- 
lum, atque id raancura et saucium, e corpore pulchro 
et absoiuto , se rapuisse tantum et avulsisse, haud dubie 
sensisset. 

§. XXVI. 
Haud minus inter se discrepantia sunt, quae vir 
eximius, nimio studio in suam de caiminibus Homeri- 
cis hypothesin eeductus, in rhapsodias A' et A protulit: 
ut cnim, priorem ceteris insertam et adaptatani esse ab 
alio fortassc pocta, ostenderct, apertum esse dixit, al- 
terum ultimo 8 ejus versus excepisse ') : at nihilorainus, 
cum earn quoque eidem suspicioni subd \or- 

dium ita comparatum esse censet, ut 
carmen exordiri voluisse videatur poeta 2 ). Exordium 
autem hoc . /. i - 2. insititium ac serioris aevi es^o, pla- 
num tacit, cum iabula de Tithono e posterorum opinio- 
nibus de diis profecta, turn rerum antecedentium series 
etjunctura: inclinata enim nocte et luce jamjam oritu- 
ra, tyyi'Vi >JcJg \ , Diomedea et Ulysses e custris proi 
sunt; ita ut primo diluculo, cum jam videre pos*- 
quomodo res gerendae essfent, Khesum adorti sint. ( 
autem redibant, diem plane exortum er toris de 

Rhe6i equis judicium — v*, .»»-. — manifestum t 

§. XXVII. 

Cum lib i dine quadam aut credendi aut non credendi 

mens semel imbuta sic, nihil est, quod credere, vcl 

non credere possit, speciosis adscitis rationibus: atque 

quanto quis ingcnii viribus et doctrinae copiis praepol- 



i) Observ. praelim. in II. K. 

2) In A. i. Vide similin quoque in YVolfu proleg. XCIV. \ 



V 
leat ,' tanto avidius praesumptas opiniones amplectitur, 
et tanto majore apparatu ac validiore custodia contra 
communem hominum sensum eas tuetur; unde saepe 
fit, ut ludibria vulgi philosophorum deliciae sint, et 
Plato, Zeno, Berkeley, Hume etc. serio tractaverint, 
quae quivis e liivio homunculus jure risisset. Hujus- 
modi homunculum me esse fateor: neque exquisitiore 

lo ingenii acumine, sed communi hominis cujusvis 

eensu in re critica uti; at quoad communi hoc sensu 

jiulicare liceat, venia viri docttssimi dixerim, nulla pars 

neque Iliadis , neque alius cujuscunque poematis, magi3 

raecedentibu8 et ante narratis pendet, quam rhapso- 

illa decima. Animorum aftectus, locorum situs, ca- 
stiorum custodiae , ducum orationes, omnium denique 
rerum gestarum in utroque exercitu nexus et consilia, 
non nisi ex ante actis intelligi possunt; neque poeta, si 
ejusmodi carmen singulare apud homines simplices et 
agrestes, quales erant omnes propemodum illius aevi, 
cecinisset, ad vigesimum versum audientium coronam 
tenuisset. Quod vir eximius ex Eustathii commentariis 
protulit, hanc scilicet rhapsodiam sigillatim ab Homero 
eciiptam esse, et a Pisistrato Uiadi insertam, ad naida- 
;< ;ytiu rciegandum est cum aliis ejusmodi fabulis anili- 
bus, qui bus abunde scatent quae de poeta tradita sunt 
eub Herodoti, Plutarchi et aliorum personis ab ineptis- 
eimis ludimagistris; qui virum viribus ingenii et ani- 
mi celsitudine omnibus praefulgentem, ludimagistrum 
quoque fuisse perinde fatuum et stolidum, pueris per- 
suasum adnitebantur. 

§. XXVIII. 
Viri critici, qui animos multiplici scientia imbutos 
ad carmina legrnda adhibent, omnia zd naQalunofitvct e 



2% 

memoria facile supplere solent: sed cum Jibrinulli trant, 
neque rcrum anteactarum memoria nisi a poetis con 
vata, omnis aut historia aut fabula, ut placere 
integra esse debuerat, ita ut ex se ipsa plane intelligere- 
tur, neque interpretis aut commtntatoris opere egeret. 

£. .XXIX. 
Quae in undecima I'iadis rhapsodia narrata sunt, 
haud minus ex . it; neq* 

pugnae cnminisr. reram in ea get arum nexnm 

atque ordinem quisqujiu int< iram et 

sects&um Achillis et *ictoriam, quam Trojani inde con- 
eequuti erant, autea co^ Initimn qnoquc, ej<.cto • 

exordio insititio, vs. j, 2, finem | !ibri aptis- 

siroe excipu: Rhesi enim caede Trojai 
Graecorum exploratoribus r< , uterque exerci 

ad pugnam so accingit ; atque e pugna, quae eequuta 
est, et rebus in - -, mors Pair itua 

et ufjuuficc Achillis, et omn [ne , quae poeta in 

annuo narrare lnluisset, serie coulinua et ordine pro- 
babili oriuntur. 

§ XXX. 
Ita parum in sequentibus vir egrcgius 6ibi con 
utpostea, in O. 5<jo. f ,atlmirabilem esse canninil 
iiomiam ," observarit, ..quod poeta tam diu Patrotlum 
intra tentorium F.urypyli retinuit morantem, ut Die ipso 
rerum alYectu pcrcussus id Achillean rcdiret." Atquihaec 
omnia e rebus in undecima rhapsodia narratis p' 
neque, eacxempta, Patroclum in Euryp' in- 

tiasse, aut ad Achillem rcdire debuisse sciremu 
narratio, quae nunc ordine justo et nexu continuo usque 
ad finem procedit , luxata et interrupta forct. 



2 9 

§. xxxr. 

Ratione probabiliore, quaeHectoris et Ajacis a pro- 
vocatione pugnam sub8equuta sunt „deTrojanorum con- 
cilio et legatione Idaei — //. 54. 55. etc. — alium et re- 
centiorem auctorem habere," viro docto visa sunt: ne- 
que in hac re ab ejus judicio dissentirem, si ita detrahi 
possent, ut neque hiatum neque cicatricem in corpora 
poernatis relinquerent ; quod quomodo fiat, neque ipse 
indicavit, neque mihi scire ccniigit. 

§. XXXII. 
Poemata nihilominus Uomerica interpolationibus 
haudpaucis scatere, ac maculis et corruptees posterorum 
temporam foedata esse, nemini, qui artem criticam vel 
summis labiis tetigerit, dubium esse potest; neque alia 
ratione recentiora ab antiquis secernenda esse videntur, 
nisi vera indole ac specie veterrimae linguae e tenebris 
eruta, quam quidem cerLissimam normam in carminibus 
in pristinum nitorem ac formam integram restituendis 
adhibere licet. Hac praecipue nos usuri sumus: nam 
congerere argumenta, vel e veterum discrepantibus sen- 
tentiis, vel e criticorum diversis opinionibus, petita, in 
unam aut alteram partem, nihil aliud est, quam otio 
proprio et patientia aliena abuti. De carminibus vel eo- 
rum auctoribus neque quidquam scimus, neque scire 
possumus praeter ea, quae in carminibus tradita sunt: 
unica enim monumenta antiquissimorum temporum no- 
bis restant; neque de iis judicaturo aliunde quam ex 
ipsis judicium instruendum est. Historiola de compage 
rhapsodiarum a Pisistrato vel Pisistratidis facta , si non 
prorsus spernenda, de Atheniensium exemplari vel edi- 
tione tantum accipi debet; cujus apud veteres haud 



00 

magnam fuisse auctoritatem, e grarnmaticorum silentio 
colligere licet. 

§. XXXIII. 
Ut tamen concederemus, poemata in rhapsodias df- 
visa, sparsim et membratim in Graeciam illata esse, ni- 
hil obsiaret, quo minus antea in Asiae civiiatibus iutegra 
extiiissrnt. Inter exemplaria antiqua in biblioi! 
Alexandria asservata pcrcelebre fuit Massiliense illud, 
quod reges Alexandrini i ivirafe coei 

conscribendum curaverant ex antiquiore quodam, quod 
conditores, exsulantes ex Ionia , secum atportasse cre- 
dibileest; nisi quia Hibernfci cujusdam antiquan'i sen- 
tentiam praetulerit, et Homcrui n fuiase, 

iteque lingua Graeca, scd Ctltica vel Hibernica u^um 
CS6C, credere malit x ). Herodotus, scriptor Asiaticus, 
qui saeculo Pisistratidarum expalsionem into vi_ 

xit, nihil nosse videtur de rhapsodiir he- 

oienaiam principibus m duo corpora red.. 
Iliadem et Odvs>eam, tanquam poen 
lata ea forma, qua per quad mpridem annos 

exdtissent 2 ). Poemata quoque ip« 'iris 

alienis, aut partibus hetcrogeniis, conllata » 
gu^a et Integra fuisse ab initio , et • ctorura - 

audi end um commodo in rhapsodia? 
me jam comprobasse confido argumentis hau 
dis , quibus alia fortasse adjeccro , cum in notuli? 
derim, interpolationes baud paucas eo insertas esse, ut 
singulae rhapsodiae commode a se invicem sejungeren- 
tur, et partes integrae viderentur. 



1) Collectanea Hibernica, YoL III. Praef. 
ft) Lib. II. C. 116. 



5 * 
§. XXXIV. 

Praeter Massiliense aliarum etiam civitatum satque 
gentium nominibus insignita singula exemplaria a ntiqua 
a grammaticis Alexandrinis laudata sunt; scilicet Chii, 
Cypri, Sinopes, Cretae et Argeos ; quae d'Ansse de 
Villoison, vir de omnibus bonis literis, praesertimiGrae- 
cis, optime meritus, non singula exemplaria a rnajori- 
bus tradita, aut a rhapsodis collecta credit, sed „edi- 
tiones, quas curaverant nonnullae civitates ')." Me ta- 
men fateor (venia viri doctissimi et nobis, dura vixif, 
amici?simi dixerim) haud intelligere, quomodo civitates 
aut respublicae editorum ofiiciis fungi possent; aut qua- 
lia senatusconsulta vel plebiscita fierent de singulorum 
vcrsuum variis lectionibus, cum ex unoquoque c;odice 
aliae seligendae, aliae repudiandae essent. Minus etiam 
compertum habeo, qua ratione omnes civitates insula e 
Cretae vel Cypri unius editoris vel grammatici munus 
exequerentur vel cxplerent: Graecorum autem vetremm 
moribus et institutis optime congruit, singulas vel ijocias 
civitates singula exemplaria e sparsis et divulsis diverse- 
rum rhapsodorum cantilenis communi auctoritate inte- 
gra comparasse, ac publico sumptu literis mandasse. 

§. XXXV. 
Haud tamen Fred. Aug. Wolfii de hac re sententiam 
omnino repudiare ausim: neque enim a ratione vel con- 
6iietudine veterum alienum est, custodes bibliothecae 
Alexandrinae singulis Homericorum carminum exempla- 
ribus nomina posuisse earum civitatum vel insularum, e 
quibus ea, privatorum fortasse scriniis, emissent vel col- 
legissent ; atque inde orta esse duo recensionum vel edi- 



i) Piolegora. in Iliad, p. XXIIT. 



tionum genera, quae ab Alexandrinis laudata sint; al xar 
avdoa, quales essent Antiraachi et fthiani; et al xaru no- 
lug ve\lx noXiutv, ut Massiliensis , Chia, Argiva , Sino- 
pica, Cypria et Cretica 1 ). Praeterea fuit exemplar per- 
celebre illud ix vuodr t /.og; quod cura Aristotelis 2 ), vel, 
ut aliimaluerunt, Callistheiiis etAnaxarchi, correctun 
Alexander in cista pretiosissima , inter spolia Persarum 
capta, depositum tent-bat, et secum semper habebat. 
Wolfii autem sententiae vocabula txdooag et dw 
quibus vetera exemplaria dignoscuntur , obbtare vi. 
tur; :i<r.oi'dooig enim, non i'xdooig \c\dtouOwai;, ea ralione 
facta fuissct. 

$. XXXVI. 
Mirari alioquin in primii debuit, qnuauis ^. i i i docti 
sententiam, de carminibus vel Pisistrato vel Pisistratidis 
in ordinem rcdactis , amplexus sit, Atticam recension 
vel editionem in Bibliotheca nullam fuisse memoratu 
dignam; neque regcm munificentissimum, qui qninde- 
cim talentis, adjectis quoque novis et pulcherrimia apo- 
graphs, tragicorum Aeschyli, Sophoclis et Euripidis 
Diplaria antiqua ab Atli . tnvitis etiam. 

coemisset 4), de Homericorum carmiuum exemp 



i) Proleg. s. XXXIX. 

2) Plutarch, in Alexandre). 

rabon. lib. XIII. p. 594. 

4) Oti ^ i/.aitji 1 Jii3k*vr. 

air 6 UroAeualoi 1 > (f-aotr, • 

•jiQvi -7; 

xakatra dyyigiov , xnt kaddiv rd —u, 

K«x Aia% 

Hort o'to(V , xara«;iaoa; 7 

xaXUorort, a 1 -rapd *A 

xaTiOXSiaotv. fatft 

umi&m* rd/.rtrra , xar tlimp na- 

Aauuv, tdxaivd. Galen, in Hippocr. Epideni. 1. III. Coram. II. 



55 

aliquo conquirendo ex ea civitate, quae ih formam 
ipsam indui8set , et Uteris prima consignasset , unquam 
cogitasse. Quod si tanta beneficia in poesim contulis- 
8ent Attici , ut lliadem et Odysseam e sparsis ac disjectis 
diversorum poetarum carminibus condidissent, antiquis- 
eima earum exemplaria haud minus quam tragoediarum 
ex Athenis comparanda fuissent. Bibliothecae tamen 
conditoribus ac curatoribus potius visum est, neglectis 
prorsus Athenis talia exemplaria e Sinope et Massilia, 
extremis Asiae etEuropae oris, inter gentes feras ac bar- 
baraS conditis, conquirere; ubi diccvxtvciGTwv et emen- 
daturientium fuco et commentis minus obnoxia fuissent, 
atque ideo pristinum nitorem carminum integrum et il- 
Jaeeum conservassent. Fabulam itaque istam aut ne- 
ecisse aut sprevisse eos oportet: studia enim regum et 
grammaticorum haud paullo acriora erant in Homerum, 
quam in tragicos, vel alios quoscunque poetas; neque 
sumptui aut labori ulli perpercissent, quo codices me- 
liores vel antiquiores se obtinere posse sperassent. 

§. XXXVIL 

Ipse Wolfius , cum e sensibus animi potius quam e 
praesumptis opinionibus judicium profert, parum huic 
fabulae ndere videtur; tametsi, ut sententiam suam, 
quae tota ex ea pendet, quoquo modo tueatur, aliam et 
absurdiorem , ei quasi fulcrum ac supplementum , sibi 
confinxit; atque religiosam earn et perpetuam morum 
veterum observantiam, et loquendi sentiendique formu- 
larun con6tantiam, quam in carminibus miramur, et 
quae uni aetati, et unius hominis ingenio tantum con- 
gruere videtur, ex unius Aristarchi el eganti ingenio et 

G 



34 

doctrina profectam esse contendit *); cum nihilominus 
ex innumeris locis constaret, ut doctissimus Heyne jam. 
pridem monuit, Aristarchum neque indolem neque pros- 
odiam veteris linguae cognitam habuisse. 

§. XXXVIII. 

Haud tamen ulliim Homericorum carminum exem- 
plar Pisistrati saeculo antiquius extitisse, aut sexcente- 
simo prius anno ante Christum natum scriptum fuisse, 
facile credam: rara enim et perdiflicilis erat iis tempo ri- 
bus scriptura ob penuriam materiae scribendo idoneae; 
cum literas aut lapidibus exarare aut tabulis Jigneis aut 
laminis metalli alicujus insculpere oporteret; quo modo 
in laminis plumbeis antiquissimum liesiodi exemplar 
apud Delphos asservabatur. Laminae autem, quae to- 
tius Iliadis vel Odysseae capaces fuissent, omncm ratio- 
iiem modumque ponderis et impensi excessissent; atque 
ideo memoriter retenta sunt, et hacc, et alia veterum 
poetarum carmina, et per urbes ac vicos, et in princi- 
pum virorum aedibus decantata a rhapsodis istis, qui 
histrionicam quandam artem exercebant, et alienorum 
fructibus ingeniorum sese alebant. Neque mirandum 
est, ea per tot saecula sic integra conservaia esse: quo- 
niam , 11011 ut Scotorum quidam de Pseudo-Ossiani sui 
potmatibus persuadere laborabant, casu quodam novo 
et inaudito per homines rusticos et indigentes , aliis ne- 
gotiis et curis distractos et iropeditos, tradita erant, sed 
per eos, qui, ab omnibus Graeciae et coloniarum regi- 
bus et civitatibus mercede satis ampla conduct! , omnia 
sua studia in iis ediscendis, retinendis, et rite recitandis 



i) Prolegora. $. 2. 



55 
conferebant. Ne tamen Scoti.de poesi sua Celtica soli 
sine aeraulis gloriarentur, Hibernicus antiquarius face- 
tissimus poerna haud paullo antiquius, si credere libet, 
de bello Trojaiio, patria lingua prisca scriptum invenit: 
quam linguam, sive Celticam, sive Scythicam, sive 
Magogicarn, sive Pelasgiam dixeris, non aliam esse ea, 
e qua omnium Graecorum carmina antiquiora translata 
pint, praesertim Homerica; quae Terpandrum , septimi 
ante Christum natum saeculi lyricum et citharistam aut 
ahum quemvis ejusmodi hominem transtulisse conten- 
ds ; neque unquam suspicatus est vir egregius, Iliadem 
euam Hibernicam ex iisdem materia , quibus Shakes- 
pearii „Troilus et Cressida", confictam esse, eodem vel 
eeriore etiam saeculo: quamvis id tuto admittere potue- 
rit, et plane nihilominus eviocere, Hiberniae Iliaca ve- 
tustiora quam Scotiae Ossianica carmina esse *). 

Haud minus egregie hallucinati sunt veterum non- 
nulli , qui, sacerdotum Aegyptiorum jactatione et prae- 
stigiis ludificau , Homerum Memphi e libris in Vulcani 
templo asservatis Iliadem et Odysseam transtulisse vel 
confinxisse, tradiderunt 2 ): Aegyptii enim, etsi mate-, 
riam ad conscnbendos libros idoneam Graecis medio se- 
ptimo a. Ch. n. saeculo primi suppeditaverint 3 ), ipsi 
nullos nisi rituales et annales scripsisse videntur; neque 
minus coelum et solum, quam hominum ingenia et in- 
doles lir | ,ac, poesi, quae varia et inaequalia poscir, 
inimica fntrunt. 



1) Collectanea Hibernica, Pracf. in vol. III. 

2) Ibid. 

3) Rege Psammiticho } qui Aegyptum alienigenajciun Corniner« 
ciis primus aperaerir. Ykle Herodotun.. 

C2 



§. XXXIX. 

Plutarchus autem Lycurgura, Lacedacmoniornra 
legislatorem , carmina Homerica in Ionia apud Cleo- 
phyH cujusdara posteros invenisse, tradidit, atqne ea 
nono a. Ch. n. saeculo exscripsisse, et in patriam retu- 
lisse , cum jam antea obscura quaedam eorum fama inter 
Graeciae incolas percrebuisset, ac partes aut laciniae 
nonnullae sparsim et singulatim circumferrentur. Sed 
haec fabula, ut cui vis sentire licet, in Lacedaemonio- 
rum vel eorum legislatoris laudem tota conncta est ab 
homine rerum antiquarum et priscae morum indolis 
prorsus ignaro , qui iibros exscribere ejusdem impensi 
atque operis in Lycurgi , ac sua ipsius aetate, ere- 
diderat. 

$. XL. 

Si vero carmina tarn sero literis mandabantur, haud 
mirandum est, grammaticos Alexandrinos tam parum 
luminis aut fructus e suis codicibus hausisse; cum scri- 
bae, qui ea e rhapsodorum recitationibus exceperant, 
rei antiquariae parum etudiosi , sua quisque ipsius, aut 
ejus qui recitabat, patria dialecto usi sint; quam, gen- 
tis cuiuscunque iuisset, Pisistrati aetate plurimum ab 
Homerico sermone immutatam esse oportct; itaut, ne 
in antiquissimo quidem Bibliothecae exemplari , gram- 
matici illi digamma inventuri essent; neque si forte in 
Argivo vel Cretensi occurrisset , pro alio quam dialecti 
eemibarbarae signo exoleto, a poetae cultissimo sermone 
prorsus abigendo, habituri essent. E breribus titulis, in 
laminis et lapidibus insculptis , linguae veteris reliquiae 
cruendae erant ; atque ex iis norma aliqua constituenda, 
qua, exemplaribus inter se collatis, ct metri analogiac- 



^7 



que justa ratione habita, e diversomm discrepantiis 
unum congruens et sincerum, ab omnibus rhapsodorum 
sordibus purgatum, confici potuisset. Sed alia pror- 
sus criticorum veterum emendandi corrigendique ra- 
tio fuit. 

§. XLI. 

Inscriptionum , quae adhuc extant, vix unam aut 
alteram ad aetatem Pisistrato priorem referre ausim : in 
liummis enim antiquissimis, quorum complures haud 
paullo vetustiores sunt, signum pro nomine gentis vel 
civitatjs est; et literae aut nullae aut initiales tan turn: 
neque Homericorum temporum monumenta inscripta 
speranda sunt, sed posteriora potius exquirenda ; quae 
inter gentes minus cultas condita , sermonem ipsis anti- 
quiorem, et Homerico propiorem exhibeant. Hujus- 
modi est tabula ilia Heracleensis ; quae, sub finem 
quarti a. Ch. n. saeculi exarata , dialecti speciem vetu- 
stiorem exhibet, quam quae in alio quovis ejusmodi 
monumento adhuc deprehensa sit. Si Peloponnesi, 
Boeotiae, et Phocidis urbium reliquias perscrutari lice- 
ret, alia forte et antiquiora, hominum haud magis ele- 
gantiis recentioribus elimatorum, inventuri foremus: 
neque hujus saeculi principes, si partem aliquam opum, 
quas in bellorum et luxus voragines profundunt, in iis 
eruendis , exquirendis , et in lucem proferendis expen- 
derent, minus suae ipsorum gloriae , aut civium et sub- 
ditorum felicitati consulerent. Quae reges Alexandrini 
bello fortiter gesserint, vel pace splendide ostentave- 
rint, vix est qui nunc scire curet : sed quae in bonas 
artes acliteras, praesertim in Homerica carmina contu- 
lerunt, ea demum omnia pro communibus in genus liu- 



58 

manum beneficiis adhuc agnoscuntur; et ubicunque 
terrarura humanitatis et elegantiae studia aliquid pro- 
gre6sus fecerint, tanquam gloriae monumenta celebran- 
tur, quae eo etiam omnibus aliis ejusmodi monu- 
mentis praestant, quod ipsa vetustas, quae cetera sub- 
mit, haec auget, in aeternumque auctura est. 

§. XLII. 

De se suaque patria Hesiodus in carmine quacdara 
memoravit; aique ideo ansam pratbuit chrono^raphia 
accuratius inquirendi de aetate, qua viverit: sed n**que 
lliadis neque Odysseae auctor aliqi. e ipso di 

neque ullam notiiiam vel homiuurn urn sui sae- 

culi posteris tradidit, e qua vel de loco vel de tempore 
quo tloruerit, quicquid cerli statuere po^ tx 

indole tamcn linguae et syllabarum noiinullaru: 
sun's certissimc constat, utrumque Htsiudo amiquio- 
rem esse: nam omnium linguarum progressio rudem 
est; atque in contrahendo et comprimendo paullatim 
tonos ac syllabas, et in elidendo ac ruolliendo vocis ar- 
ticulationes praecipue fit. 

§. XL1U. 

Hanc praescrtim ob causam Ilias mihi videtur anti- 
quior Odyssea, et a poeta praecedentis aevi condita 
Par in utroque poemate simplicitas moruni, idem 
%vovg cxpzaionpiTi)^ xat yu^t; <■ atqui voces 

quaedam Odysseae e vitae cultioris u>u et rerum statu 
jam maturiore orta esse videntur; ut y^uarm, opes, 
quae xr ;;/<«:« in lliade sunt; Xtayr, , diversorium publi- 
cum; ffvfih j, iunis e biblo, herba Aegyptiaca, 
lliadis auctori iguota, factus : 6 operam aiercc- 



59 
nariam facio, verbum e nomine #^> servus mer- 
cenarius, effictum, ac novum hominum ordinem, me- 
dium inter servos et ingenuos, indicans; qui nusquam 
in lliade memoratur, neque civili rerum statui in ea 
adumbrato satis congruere videtur. 

§. XLIV. 

Voces aliae, in utroque poemate perinde obviae, 
in Odyssea breviorem sumunt formam , atque Atticam 
ietam elegantiam et concinnitatem, quae majestatem 
veteris linguae pauJlatim subruebat, jamdudum obre- 
ptantem produnt. Hujusmodi sunt Nowvpog , penulti- 
ma breri , pro Ntovvpvog , e participio Nowvptvog con- 
tracto; Siamg pro fytant'oiog; et'^/^o'rr;? pro ' AyQOitnvrig'y 
atque item secundus casus nominis 'Hajg, 'Hqoq in dis- 
eyllabum; et Aoaxo , paenultima correpta, pro Aoaoau- 
to; Kloi quoque ei Kma in monosyllaba ; et participia 
praeterita TeOir^jg, Hinri^g etc. quae, more antiquo 
Ionico, paenultimaa semper productas in lliade, nisi 
locis interpolatis , habent, in dissyllaba Te&vecogi 77*- 
Ttximg , etc. poetarum Atheniensium more contracta. 
Vox, quae in lliade, uno dempto loco x ), Psgrnn tri- 
syllaba est ubique, in Odyssea non nisi dissyllaba vel 
monosyllaba, _T<pa/>/ , rptivg, et diaeresi r^iig, occur- 
rit; quae more antiquo r^ocFi], r$uFg> et T^ccFcg scri- 
benda esse, e Latino Gravis , inde deducto, certissime 
constat; atque ita TeQccFog et rs(jaFtj, pro ytQcuog et 
yeQai)], pari ratione Iliadi restituenda sunt. 



*) r. 386. Interpolatum esse totum locum 536 — 8- alias ob cau- 
sas suspicari licet; sed qua ratione repurgandus sit, vix ope„ 
raepretium est, conjecturis indulgere. 



49 

§. XLV. 

In sententiarum constructione, quae vulgo •yntaxia 
vocatur, parum differentiae est: ob6ervare tamen licet, 
*Em\v in Odyssea hand infrequenter inclicativum sibi 
8ubfunctum habere; quod in Iliade nusquatn evenit. 

Alia est autem mythorum et sacrorum ratio; cum 
IliacuS poeta neque Mercurium deorurn nuntium, nc- 
que Neptunum tridentigerum, neque Delon insolam 
Apollini sacram , neque deum eum oraculit zpeiovra, ant 
homines ftfaojuvovg '), neque Thesea aliquem heroa, 
neque hominem ullum impia ista postcriorum tempo- 
rum dno&ewoit inter deos relatum, nosse videtur. 

$. XLVII. 

Vestigia etiam OJysseae insunt artium ac scientia- 
rum , rudium scilicet adhuc et agrestium, auctarum ta- 
men, et gradum aliquem paullo eminentiorem adepta- 
rum. Lyrae chordae baud diutius c lino factae sunt *), 
aed ex ovium intestini- , at hodie fiunt; et verticillas, 
xulkoip, quo intendeientur ct remitterentur , adjectus 
est 3 ); quod Iliacus poeta in Achillis lyra 4 ) vix silen- 
tio transisset, si ei innotuisseL Usus etiam colurana- 
rum in aedinciis frequens in Odyssea . nusquam in Ilia- 
de memoratur; atque ideo ignotum fuisse poetae anti- 



i ) Odyss. Q. 79 — gi. 

2) Iliad. 2. 570. Ha ml me effugnt, rlros doctor knot istud pr» 
cantiuncula qua Jam habuisse; sed obstac eorum sententiae 
V, nam cttiriti qui ad citharam canir, ipsa wxntti 

5) Odyss. <*>. 4°i>- 
4) Iliad. /. 136. 



quiori colligere licet; vix enim in Priami aedium tarn 
magnifica descriptione x ) cum siluisset, si cognosset. 
Columnae, quae in Ulyssis aula sive triclinio stabant, 
arborum trunci, medio aedificio erecti ad tigna tecti 
imbricati suatinenda, fuisse videntur, atque ita, ut ha- 
8tas , quibus Graeci antiquiasimi nunquam non armati 
prodibant, appositas continerent, circumquaque striati, 
haud alitor quam columnae Doricae in posterorum tem- 
plia 2 ). Oceanum denique uxpoQQOv , refluentem, esse, 
longinquiore navigatione , quamvis obscure et ambigue, 
homines jam turn percepisse videntur; cum nihil ejus- 
modi in carmine lliaco , nisi in versu manifeste spurio 
et commentitio 3 ) , memoratum sit. In artibus humi- 
lioribus quoque et agrestibus usus atyviuiov, aquilarum 
minorum , in aucupio *), et retis , dwTvov nokvwnoij, in 



1) Iliad. Z. 242 « — 50. 

2) Odyss. A. 210. Haud me fugit, doctrina et ingenio in- 
signes esse viros, qui negaverint, dovQoSoxrjv istam colu- 
mnae striam sive canaliculum fuisse, et pro appenso velprope 
apposito quodam, vel ipsa media columna excavata potius 
habuerint. Venia taraen eorum dixerim , male eos intelle- 
xisse Graeca tarn poetae quam commentatoris Eustathii: nam 
w()off xiova, columnae ipsi, non rei alicuiex ea exstanti vel 
antepositae, hastam adnixam, unice significare potest; ut 
hene reddidit Vhgihus : 

quae mediis ingenti adnixa columnae 

Aeaibus adstabat, validam vi corripit hastam. 
(Aen. XII. 92. ) neque Eustathius per sk xiova tyysykvfiftivfjv 
mediam columnam excavatam voluisse existimandus est; 
cximia V tixlovaxs*odojulv7iv exprimendum foret; sed su- 
perficiem ejus insculptam vel exaratam, xta ut hastae, ei 
adnixae, immotae starent. 

3) -*• 399- 

O Odyss. X,3«2 — € - 



piscatu 1 ), progressus indicant, qui, utcunque sper- 
nendi in hac satietate et fastidio renim , iis aetatibns 
nonnisi tarde et pluribus irritis conatibus fiebant. 

§. XLVIIL 

Ut uberior et validior in ornando, ita modestior in 
(ingendo est Iliadis auctor; quod non a mente solum ve- 
gctiore et judicio scvcriore profecium esse crediderim, 
scd quodammodo etiam e locornm, ubi res g» <*nt t 

propinquitate: Troadis enim caraporum - murium 

cujaus, montium praerupu et- cacuroina , audientibua 
proximarum regionum incolis, apprirue nota esse de- 
bucrant; atque ideo, darn hero ac foi tit udo su- 

pra oinnem naturae modum eirerebatu odi 

am ratio justa et accural a hubenda crat, qua inte- 
ritatif species in rebus notit, iingendi licentiae 
in iguotis obtcndcrctur. 

§. XLIX. 

De Ithaca autem, insula parva, longinqua et obseu- 
ra, cum nihil omnino coloni illi Asiatici. pro- 

nil auribus, ad quaecunque poetae fingere libuerit acci- 
pienda , audittun venicbant. Minus etiam curiosos fuisse 
oportuit de percgrinationibus Ulvssis , de gentibus et re- 
gionibua, quas emu adiisse, et portentis ac prodigiis, 
quae eum in iis vidisse, poeta commentus sit: neque se- 
rioris aevi geographi, qui eas gentes et regiones inter 



*) lb. 536. Ejusmodi rete sub alio nomine, oki'oi t.ivov, memo- 
rattur II. E. \2T- scd total locus — , — insititius et 

Serioril cujusdnm poetae esse videtui ; baud pnuca enim ei 
insuut ab Homevico seruione alicna , gu«a in notnla 1 
mus. 



45 

fretaSicula, Tyrrhena, etc. perquirebant, alitcr erras- 
se mihi videntur, quam si quis inter insulas Oceani Au- 
stralis Gulliverianas istas, Lilliput, Blefuscue, etc. per- 
quirere susceperit. Ita nonnullos gravioris judicii viros 
inter veteres sensi6se constat ') ; quanquam recentiorum 
poetarum siudia , dum res, quas tractarent , Homericis 
fabulis ornare et augere laborarent, alteri opinioni plus 
ponderis et auctoritatis addiderint. Gentes quoque, quae 
cas regiones incolebant, dum in patriae honorem anti- 
quitaiis speciem e carminibus Homericis unaquaeque 
captaret, rumorem vel indicium quodcunque, tenuissi- 
mum etiam, quo Graecorum principes a Troja redeun- 
tes ea loca attigisse crederentur, avide arripuere et amb- 
itiose auxere: unde evcnit, ut Sicilia pro Cyclopum, 
Campania pro Laestrygonum , et Corcyra pro Phaeacum 
patria habita sit; cum tamen revera non aliter e mente 
poetae de Cyclopibus ct Laestrygonibus quam de Brob- 
dignagiensibns statuendum fuerit; neque Phaeaces et 
eorum insula Scberia alio loco habendi, quam Panchaea, 
Laputa, Eutopia et aliae ejusmodi fabulosae , quas face- 
tiS8imi homines, sive in sacerdotum et philosophorum 
ludibrium, sive in summae beatitudinis exemplum , 
euopte quisque ingenio eflinxerint. Neque multum 
profecit vir acerrimus, qui, post Iliacam topographiam 
tam felici industiia expeditam, Odyssiacam haud pari- 
bus auspiciis tentavit: omnis enim similitudo Homericae 
cum posterorum Ithaca e nova lectione Jacobi Bryant, 
u4vzdo pro Al di x in Odyssea IX. 26., pendet: quam 
senex, inscitia vix tironi condonanda, protulit, et juve- 
nis, verecundia ctiam in pucro nimia, amplexus est: 



1) Strabop. 1. I. p. 24. L VII. p. 299. 



44 

quoniam JvtuQ pronomini emphatico Avvy) sic uvzidtu- 
-Awg subjunctum de una eademque re nulla unquam vel 
ratio vel consuetudo loquendi agnovit. Non aliam ob 
causam forsitan poetalthacamet resUlyssiscaeteris Grae- 
corum a Troja redeuntium materiam carminis praetulit, 
quam quod, audientibus minus notae , majorem fingen- 
di licentiam praeberent: insula enim parvula, pauperri- 
ma, et remotissima nullas illecebras habebat, quibus per- 
egrinatorem , raercatorem, vel etiam piratam Asiaticom 
visendi studio allectaret. 

S- L. 

Odysseam Homcricam in libri XXIII. vs. 296. finem 
habuissc, gramraatici celeberrirai, Aristophanes et Ari- 
starchus, olim censuerunt x >; neque aliter cuivis Home- 
ric is paullo altius imbuto ccnsendum est; tarn rnulta 
subsequentibus iiisunt a moribws ac sermone illius aevi 
prorsus aliena. E Tiresiae vaticiniis quoque constat, 
Ulyssem ob procorum caedem in exilium actum esse 2 ), 
et longinquis peregrinationibus postea diu jactatum er- 
rasse. Pauca, quae veterum traditionibus poeta acce- 
perat, ornare et augere speciosis miraculis studebat, 
mutare non audebat; atque ea nihil amplius docuisse 
videntur, quam Ulyssem, a Troja in patriam redeuntem, 
via aberrasse, et inter terras longinquas et ignotas nau- 
fragium fecisse et diu latuisse; decimo autem anno so- 
lum sub aliena persona clam rediisse, et principes ali- 
quot viros, qui uxorem sollicitarent, et hospitioabuteren- 
tur, dolo interfecisse; a quorum parentibus et propin- 



1) Vide Schol. min. et Eustath. y. 

2") Vide ./. i2o etc. . 



46 

quis e civitate exaclus sit. Horum numerum, ut ejus 
gloriae consuleret, poeta immodice , supra omnem fi- 
dem et opinionem , ampliavit et auxit ; quo praecipue 
ct in foedfs istis et immanibus suppliciis , quae Ulysses 
et Telemachus de caprario et miseris aliquot mulierculis 
sumunt, judicium limatius et liberalius desiderandum 
est 1 ). Bellatores suos atroces, saevos, et feroces ex- 
hibuit Iliadis auctor; sed a frigida ea ac tarda crudelita- 
te , quae odium duntaxat ac nauseam pariat, oranes ab- 
horrent. Caede et sanguine hostium, non cruciatibus 
inimicorum gaudent : neque Achillis tantum vel Diome- 
dis , sed Ulyssis etiam , qualis in Iliaco carmine adum- 
bratur, excelsior et generosior est animus, quam ut in 
servos et ancillas saevierit, aut tam vili et miserando 
sanguine ultionem vel iram placaverit. 

Veruntamen, quo minus judicii et ingenii in fin- 
gendo , eo plus artis et elegantiae in distribuendo et or- 
nando prodit Odysseae auctor. Summus est ubique ni- 
tor, et lactea quaedam ubertas tenuissimas res citra tu- 
cum auget, et veram earum speciem, quamvis religiose 
retentam, honestiorem reddit. Quoties res postulant, 
vigore, nonimpetu ; assurgit; alioquin extenuat consulto 
vires, et cursu facili et aequabili fertur; dum res com- 
munes , domesticas et rusticas , sermone culto quidem 
ac nitido, a quotidiano tamen proximo, plane et per- 
spicue narrat. 

$. LI. 

In universum tamen utriusque poetae ratio fingen- 
di eadem est, atque ita pro audientium captu instituta, 



X. 465 ete. 



46 

ut Veritas in notis ac reapse existentibus fulem faceret 
fictis et ignotis : quae item omnes crederent simul et 
stuperent. De rebus sensibus subjectis subtiliora pl«- 
rumque et morosiora judicia sunt hominum foris et sub 
dio aetatem degentium quam criticorum, qui scholarum 
«t gymnasiorum literariorum umbraculis cessantes, ali«- 
iris oculis saepe vident ct sensus animorum e pracsura- 
ptis opinionibus arte professoria concinnant. At ea ipsa 
judicia co exercenda, quo experientia quotidiana nihil 
valere,t, prorsus bebescefrent , ita ut omne rniiaculuro, 
vel loci vel temporis spatio semotum, facile creditu ea- 
set; et quidquid liccntia fingendi de Achillis vel Ulyssis 
rebus gestis profcrre posset, pronis auribus, tanquam 
fidedignum, accipcretur, ab iis etidni, quo* ne Vii 
lianas quidem hyperbolas de fluctibus ad bidera atsui ■-. 
tibus , etc. 1 ) aequo animo auscultatun < eo 

colligere licet, quod in carmiuibus tarn muhipln 
modi rerum species tam varie adumbratas compltxis ni- 
hil tale veteres poetae ausi sint. Pari quoque mode* 
imparl quamvis arte et ingenio, poetae barbari scpten- 
trionales eandem materiam tractarunt, adaeque immo- 
dici in deorum et heroum fact is ultra omncm humanac 
naturae rationem augendis et exagirerandis: de iis enim 
audientes omnia credere parati erant, quia cire 

potuerant. In omnibus autcm, quae c colitis navigandi, 
venandi et armenta pascendi studiis c> _nita haberent, 
nihil, quod non veruin esset, oblectare potuit; atque 
lianc ob causam, si nulla alia subesset, inanium ista 
ampullarum farrago, quae sub Ossiani cujusdam ficto 
nomine venditata est, pro commentitia et subdititia a 



1) Aeneid. I. 103. nr. 5C7. etc. 



V 
quovis non veterum morum et consuetudinum prorsus 
ignaro habenda foret. 

§. LII. 

Cum flumina Troadis Simoenta et Scamandrum. 
male alterum ab altero distinxissent geographi veteres, 
omnia, quorum riotitia aliquo modo ex iis pendebat, 
situm nempe urbis et planitiei Trojanae, navium Grae- 
corum stationem, etc. perperam intelligebant, et locis 
alienis perquirebant; neque nisi hoc demum saeculo, 
Chevalieri , Morittii , Gellii et Clarkii curis et laborious, 
ju6ta ac vera aliqua eorum expositio facta est; quae tan- 
dem aptissime congruere traditis a poeta visa sunt, 
Nullo modo igitur nugarum venditatoribus auscultan- 
dum , quorum alter bellum Trojanum * ) , alter Medi- 
cum 2 ), nullo quasi negotio, de medio sustulit. Mihi 
etiam puero senera haud minus doctum , neque alioqui 
magis delirum , audisse contigit , qui paribus argumen- 
ts , nee majore nisu, Americam et insulas Americanas 
ex orbe terrarum sustulerat; quaecunque enim de iis 
narrata essent suis temporibus , cum omnia fraude et 
mendaciis impudentissimis referta et inquinata essent, 
nemini sano credenda esse, contendebat; neque quae 
Hitfpani, Lusitani et Itali deChristophoriColumbi, Ame- 
rici Vespucii, Ferdinand] Magellani, et aliorum longin- 
quis per maria incognita profectionibus antea tradidis- 
sent, pluris aestimanda , quam quae eorum populare3 
iisdem temporibus de Amadis, Palmerini, Orlandi, vel 
Rinaldi rebus gestis scriptitassent; sive quae, pari im- 



1) Bryant, siege of Troy- 

1) Richardson, Oriental Dissertations 



48 

pudentia, nebulo quidam sub Gulliverii nomine de 
cjusmodi navigatione nuper proferre au9u§ esset. 

§. LIII. 

Diversorum hominura diversi cum ratione insanien- 
di sunt modi. Huic aliquid verum credere, quod non 
et antiquum, religio fuit: illis omnia omnium hominum 
ac temporum commenta, versus Sibyllinos, Phoenicias 
Sanchoniathonis, nescio cujus, historias, poemaU Row- 
leiana, etc. etc. pro Sanctis et sinceris amplexari et ven- 
ditare solenne erat; dum virorum giavissimorum, Thu- 
cydidis, Aristotelis et Strabonis, de rebus antiquis testi- 
monia via notatu digna viderentur. Quae de Anaxago- 
rae, Metrodori Scepsii et aliorum opinionibus suam serw 
tentiam comprobantibus attulit quidam , falsa sunt 
omnia; nemo enim veterum, ne eorum quidem, qui 
sub Homericarum fabularum involucris suae sapientiae 
argutias se invenisse credebant, de ipso bello Trojano 
dubitationem unquam attulerat; licet poeta res in eo 
gestas exornasse potius quam enarra6se visus sit, et de 
animis audientium commovendis magis quam de men- 
tibus instruendis cogitasse , atque idcirco vera consilia 
belli non aperuisse , sed speciem quandam probabilcm, 
poesi magis quam rerum rationi aptam , ei praetendisse; 
nam Helena, si praetexta, vix vera causa tanti belli esse 
potuit; numquam enim homines usque eo fatui et stuki 
fuerunt , ut pro una muliercula , aut illi tot labores sus- 
cipere voluissent , aut isti tot mala sustinuerint. Si de 
belli Peloponnesiaci ausis nihil cogniium csset , praeter 
ea quae tradidit Aristophanes , non alia fuisse Periclis in 
eo suscipiendo consiJia quivis crediderit, nee de Grae- 
cia subigenda et imperi© rerum occupando, sed de mu- 



*9 

lierculis quibusdam recuperandis eum taritum cogitas- 
se 1 ). Quae comicus vituperandi et mordendi, antiquus 
poefa ornandi studio fingebat , baud nescius, quantum 
Helenae persona ei profutura esset, atque audientes non 
adeo curiosos ejusmodi rerum aestimatores esse, ut 
jasta earumralio in omnibus reddenda foret. 

§.-LTV. 

Vera belli causa fuisse vicetur' aucta ultra modum 
imperia, cum Agamcmnonis, turn Priami; atque inde 
mutua aemulaLio, sibi invicem praecavendi studia, ti, 
mores , odia , et irae ; quae inter praepotentes semper 
suboriri solent. Imperium Trojanum quoque Pelopida- 
rum regnum avitum fuisse traditur; quodDardanidarum 
familia, expulso Tantalo, Agamemnonia et Menelai 
proavo, vi occupasse credebatur. Recuperandi itaque 
imperii studium momenti aliquid in consiliis habere po- 
tuit, nee non et juris aequi probabilem obtendere spe- 
ciem expeditioni, qua majorum res sibi vindicandas, et 
injurias prius illatas ukiscendas, susceperat. Belli au- 
tem eventus vix minus funestus victoribus quam 
•victis fuit ; quantumvis enim gloriae Graecorum prin- 
cipes inde retulissent, res domi , quae interim labe- 
factabantur, nihilo validiores ex ea post reditum fa~ 
ctae sunt; at conquassata Pelopidarum potentia, et 
eumptibus ac caedibus fractae et imminutae Achaeorum 
opes, Heraclidis et Doribus occasionem redeundi et Pe- 
loponnesum invadendi praebuisse videntur : ita ut me- 
morabili, haud tamen unico exemplo, victoris populi 
clades et ultima ruina e bello prospere gesto successent. 



i) AcLarn. 524 etc, ed. Brunk. 



5o 

S- LV. 

Etiamsi alia sit in nonnullis mythorum et sacrorum 
ratio, Odysseae taraen nihilominus quam Iliadis aucto- 
ri mystica ilia et symbolica posterorum religio prorsud 
ignota fuisse videtur y neque dei ex ea orti, vel ad cam 
pertinentes, ut Pan, Silenus, Bacchus, Cupido, etc. , in 
locis non interpolatis usquam obversantur. Neque H<t- 
cules neque Helenae fratrcs, qui, ex ea religione per^o- 
nas alienas induti, in deorum numerum relati sunt, gra- 
dum aliquem vel honorem supra naturam humanam ad- 
epti erant: versus enim , quibus inter deos reccnsentur, 
manifeste spurii et insititii sunt 1 ). In nummis tamen 
Graecarura civitatum antiquissimis , octavo vel nono 
etiam saeculo a. Ch. n. cusis, ejus religionis symbol* 
haud infrequ enter impressa occurrunt, 

§. lvl 

Nusquam autein vel in Iliade vel in Odyssea aut 
jiummi aut literac memorantur ; nam <j>;/mrcc ista 
quae in tabella plicatili Bellerophontes a Proeto acc^pe- 
rat, symbola erant quaedam IV it, inter 

socerum et geneium prius constituta, quorum volunta- 
tem neque Bellerophontes neque alius quipiam, non ab 
iis edoctus, intelligere posset 2 ); neque ulentwn auri 
numisma, sed pondus est, nulla alia re usurpatum; un- 
de numisma fortasse initium cepit: quatenus enim e pre- 
tii ratione magnitudinem ejus definire licet, haud alia 
existimanda sunt numismata ea antiquissima, quae ad- 



1) Odyss. A. 500 — 4. Xki.oy%a.Q too, interpolatorem nunif* 
prodit. 

2) Iliad. Z, 163 etc 



Si 

hue extant, pondo granorum CCLX plu9 minusve, sin- 
gula, quam talenta ilia Homerica cusa ac signata. Omnia 
ex auro non decocto, quale efodinis ac metallis provenit, 
opere vetustissimi moris, rudi et informi, facta sunt; 
neque e quatuordecim , quae mihi videre eontigit, nisi 
unum literis signatum est, 2/nempe, initialibus «£/-» 
&N/S2N 1 ) ; quorum insula, alioqui sterilis et saxosa, au- 
ri metalla satis ampla habebat. Hi nummi fortasse Kqol- 
utloi GTctTfjpfQ Pollucis sunt, quorum ad exemplum post- 
ea Darici ex auro decocto, quo primus Darius Hystaspis 
fili us in moneta usus est 2 ), facti esse videntur; majores 
enim ejusdem quasi ponderis sunt, minores dimidii ; atque 
ex his urbium Asiaticarum et regum Macedonum Gvarijoig 
velPhilippi, Romanorumaureivel solidi, etaliarumdein- 
ceps gentium numismata aurea usque ad nostratium Gui- 
neas et Francogallorum Louis, originem forte traxerunt; 
pondo enim quasi omnia, auri plus minusve puri in non- 
nullis ratione habita, Persarum Darica minora aequiparant; 
licet pretium , e copia continuo aucta, sensim imminu- 
turn sit. Omnes etiam omnium civitatum Graecarum 
nummi aurei e partibus aliquot talenti Homerici conficti 
esse videntur; atque usque eo talentum id in mercan- 
tium et vendentium commoda divisum est, ut eCXXX ra » 
ejus parte nummuli cusi sint; quorum unus Coiorqm, 
conservatissimus, pondo II granorum, in museo nostro 



1) Cantabrigiae apnd virum ornatissimum D. E. Clarke, LL. 
D. qui co et cornpluribus aliis veterum civitatum , regum 
et gentium minimis pretiosissimis Museum nostrum huma- 
nissime ditavit; ita ut e quatuordecim, quos vidi, undecim 
nunc habeat. Caeterorum , duo in locupletissimo nummo- 
phylacio Baronis de Northwick, et alter in Hunteriano as- 
acrrantur. 

2) Herodot. lib. IV- 16$, 

D Q 



asservatur* Talentum vetus quatuor drachmarum a 
scriptoribus de re nummaria memoratur *); quod Ho- 
mericum talentum , et regum Lydorum staterem, Kqqi- 
oahv urutTJoa, fuisse, vix dubitandum est. 

Apud Siceliotas et Italiota9 argentea pari modo mo- 
neta ponderis ratione in talenta, minas et nummos 
divisa erat 2 ): nee non et aerea quoque; quae apudEtru- 
scos et Latinos, qui earn ab Italiotis receperant, fusa, 
non cusa, antiquitus erat. Unicuique tamen genti, et 
in unoquoque metallo, ratio ponderum et divisionum 
diversa fuit. 

Fallitur autem Ricbardus Bentlejus, cum e locis pa- 
rum sinceris Pollucis et Festi Siceliotas et Italiotas 6cri- 
bit minas in re nummaria non habuisse, talentum au- 
tem e nummis XXIV constituisse 3 ) : in tabula enim He- 
racleensi, sub finem quarti a. Ch. n. saeculi insculpta, 
MNAI et NOMOI diserte memorantur 4 ) ; atquc edi- 
tor ejus Mazzochius plane ostendit, ratione pretii utro- 
rumque habita, et loco Diodori Siculi citato, minam 
istam Italicam XXIV nummos, et talentum Siciliense 
XXIV minas valuisse 5 ). NOM02Z (sic enim omnino 



1) Schol. Ven. in II. *P. 269. 

2) Tab. Heracl. Neap. 1, 95, 96, 1:15, ct Mazzoch. Disquis. in 
eand. 75. 

3) Dissertation on Phalaris etc. S. XIV- to uivrot 2txtl*MO¥ 
taXavrov ikaxioTOv farof, to ulr d^xalov, o'z 'slgiGTv 
Xiysi '• , rtooapa9 v.al elxoci rot's roi'uuoii' ro dt loTsgor &o- 
xaidsxct' fi'iacftai de tuv vovuuov Tgt'a i;uiol6/.ia. Polluc. 
IX. 37. Atticum (talentum) est 6000 deiiarium, Srracusa- 
num 5 denarium. Fest. 

4) Vs. 75, 95, 9 6 > J -3- 

5) Mazzoch. in vs. 75. to ziXavrov Si, to vvp lsy,\unov *Jt- 
riXQV, crcxpa J2utsXtQjT«ii to piy g.f>%aiQV r 4 y fii cut KJ' rvpi 



55 

acribendum, cum vovfi^og mera barbarizes sit e Latina 
pronuuciatione orta) " x ) quarta pars plus minusve 
drachmae A tticae fuit; cujus moduli frequentissimi ex- 
tant nummuli civhatum Italicarum. Aitqu et 'Oyttla 
(sicenim, non ovyxia, scribendum ) Libra et Uncia, 
aeris, et rerum pondera viliorum distinguebant; quam- 
vis postea ALzqu monetam argenteam, quae libram aeris 
vel |- partes nummi apud eosdem significant, et 6y- 
sticxg XII valeret. Sic Menandri versus irtelligendus est, 
quern e codice bene restituit Athenaei editor elegantissi- 
mus — fiiytgov tccXuptov yiverav xazd koyov — ■ at male 
iriterpretatus est — impensa, si summam rerum sub- 
ducas, est talenti — fttngou — parum abest. Sermo 
est enim de vilitate rerum et parsimonia, non magnifi" 
centia sacrificantiunr, quorum impensa in deos ad ratio- 
nem parvi talenti, Siciliani scilicet, tota computanda 
esset. Vide Athenaei Deipnos. L. VIII. C. LXVII. ed. 
Schweigh. 

§• LVII. 
Graecorum aliorum numismatibus ratio numeric 
non ponderis, nomina dedit, e clavis deducta vel obo- 
lis ferreis vel aereis, qui apud Dores forsitan pro num- 



dk IB. Diodor. Sic. apud Suid. in voce xaXavtov^. Aliter 
et emenda tius fortasse Diodori verba extant in Schol. Ven. B. 
in U. E. 576. ralavzov Iqtv (Ivojv a. t? Se pva SgaxfMuv P. 
7} Ss Sfjayjty opoliov F. 6 §s yolxovs Xetctwv Z. to raA«v- 
rov $£ vvv Icyo/uerov ^Arxi^iv napd. Se ^mekLOjTaiS to fiev 
aQy.oXov r/v fivcuv KJ, vvv §& KB. 
1) Quod Bentleji acumen fugisse mirum est, cum quartam se- 
dem in versu iambico senario Epicharnii, quern laudat, te- 
neat. p. 335. et apud Suidam HOM02. — Jojqius Si e<rtl 
vouiouatos %Q(xjvvai rfj ki£ei , xai l P(f)f*tuoi naQaTQtyavres 
XOIMMON Uyovot. 



54 

mis primum usurpabaritur , et ejus erant moduli, ut 
manus hominis sex commode coniprehendere pos6et; 
unde aes, quod uniuscujusque pondus, et argentum, 
quod uniuscujusque pretium aequaret, 'Oftokog , et quod 
sex, Aqaxnn appellabatur x ). Mina autem Attica, et ta- 
lentum Atticum, Euboicum, Aegineticum etc. pondera 
erant raajoris trutinae, et vilioribus rebus propria; quae 
serius, et auctis jam divitiis , ad rationem nummariam 
translata sunt. Oboli et drachmae Aegineticae argenti 
majores erant quam Euboicae vel Atticae; atque illas 
Peloponnesi, Boeotiae et Phocidis civitatibus, has Grae- 
ciae caeteris in usn fuisse, e nummis adhuc extantibua 
colligere licet: quamvis ratio ponderis , nisi antiquissi- 
mis , lubrica admodum et incerta sit; quoniam, inopia 
velavaritia , haudinfrequenter imminuta esset, praeser- 
tim a regibus et tyrannis. Drachmae Aegineticae, quas 
vidi conservatbsimas, turn ipsius Aeginae, turn Theba- 
rum, Tanagrae, Elidis et Phocidis, granorum XCV 
plus minusve erant singulae, et didrachmae CXC : cum 
drachmae Athenarum et Alexandri ruagni LXV, .didrach- 
mae, quae rarissimae, CXXX sint. Alexander I. tamen, 
Xerxi aequalie, pondera majora adhibuisse videtur; quae 
a successoribus paulJatim Imminuta, in minora ea Atti- 
ca tandem cesserunt. Aristoteles, teste Polluce, litram 
Sicelioticam pretio aequam obolo Aeginetico esse, tradi- 
dit z ) : ita ut monetae alterius rationem ponderis ad al- 



1) xivSwsvet, St xai to iraunav aQ%atov o'vtojs ty.etv , ofiiliaxoiS 
Xgouh'ajv vouiouaot. giSiiqoZs, hio)V Se jfaAxots, aqr* &9 ~*a~ 
Qttuivti ttatJ&o? en xal rrr tuv xsquutwv ofoXovg xa/fl 
SQa%ui)v 8i rove t$ vfiokoig' tooovtov ydg 17 jjfip nt^n. 
tsto. Plutarch, in Lysandro C. XVII. 

2) Onom. p. 216. 456. 



55 

terms rationem rmmeri redigere in nummis adhuc ex- 
tan tibus facile fuisset, nisi violemia tyrannorum rem 
saepe male tractasset, etargenti, ut aeris, signati pre- 
tium supra ponderis et moduli rationem auxisset. 

§. LVIII. 

Si traditis a Strabone et Chronico Pario fides haben- 
da est , Phido , Argivorum tyrannus , monetam Aeginae 
cudendam anno a. Ch. n. DCCCLXIX. primus curavit 1 ): 
at Lydis tamen Herodotus, justiore forsitan titulo, ejus 
inventionem vindicavit z )i nam quae Plutarchus de 
nummis a Theseo cusis et bovis effigie signatis prodi-: 
dit 3 ) , ab omni historiarum fide et rei antiquariae ratio- 
ne prorsus abhorrent ; cum Homericis etiam temporibus, 
diu post Thesei aetatem, si Thesea aliquem unquam 
fuisse credere libet ,, omne genus numismatis usque eo 
ignotum e6set, ut neque aurum, neque argentum,. ne- 
que aes, pretii rationem aliis rebus suppeditaret , sed 
bourn armenta ; quorum tantus erat usus apud homines 
eimplcies et agrestes , ub absolute pro opibus haberen- 
tur. Neque me fugit , Phidonem hunc, t« ixtiga novy'iaciv- 
zu IleXonowriaioiGw , inter Croesi aequales sexto demum 
9. Ch. n. saeculo recensitum esse ab Herodoto 4 ); qui 



a) tuxl ficTQ* igsvge xd fpsMvsia %aXov(isva, xal avad-ftovs, «al 
voutofia. nsxaQayfilvov, to te alio xcd to dgyvgovv. Strab. 
1. VIII. 

£) itQwroi de dvd-gojitojv , tojv rjfisci I'dpsv , VQfiiqfia %qvgov nut 
doyvgov xoipdftevoi txQrjoavro* 

3) h'xoxps 6*s xctl v6fivoaa y $ovv iyxuQal-ag, rj Sod top MftQdd'oj' 
vtov ravgov, 7} Std xov Mivox oxQuxriyov , rj ngos ysoigylav 
TcoXfoas itaQanaXojv. aV exeivov Si (paoi, to 'JExaro^oiov aal 
ro Jexdfioiov ovofiaa&ijpcu, in Theseo. 

4) Lib. VI. i77. etc. 



eeriori cuidam Argivorum tyranuo ejusdem nominis ea 
tribuisse videtur, quae ad antiquiorem jure pertinebant; 
nam nemo non rei antiquariae prorsus ignarus credere 
potest , Croesi demum eaeculo vel mensuras vel poiw 
dera vel monetam Graecis guibuscumque primum in- 
notuisse, 

$. LIX. 

Aeginensium nummi argentei, vulgo Aeginensibus 
perperam tributi, extant nonnulli , quos si non sub an- 
tiquissimo illo Phidone, aetate ab eo proxima cusos 
fuisse, ex opere rudi et informi colligere licet 5 at aurea 
nihilominug Asiaticorum talenta, supra memorata, ali- 
quanto vetustiora esse videntur: artis enim prima et in- 
certissima incepta plane exhibent. Aurum justo ponde- 
re finitum. et igne liquefactum in aquam efuindebatur, 
qua in massae naturalis speciem abnormem et fortuitam 
effingebatur ; atque sic in typum malleo et clavo qua- 
drato adigebatur. Aurea numismata argenteis et aereis 
aetate priora esse, credendum est; cum aurum magif 
obvium et inventu facilius fuerit , atque etiam mollius, 
ductilius, et operi cuicunquc, quod instrumcntis non- 
duni perfectis pernciendum esset, aptius. In bis tamen 
aniiquissimis mysticae religionis symbola, grypbus nem- 
pe, leo, et aries, einguli super singulos pieces, im- 
pressa bccurrunt: etsi, in re tam vetusta et obscura, 
conjecturis indulgere liceret, ejusmodi symbola. una 
cum arte nummaria , Giaecos colonos, decimo forte a. 
Ch. n. saeculo, ab Asiae gentibus indigenis didicisse di- 
cerem. Apud Indos ea religio ortum habuisse videtur; 
ibi enim adhuc viget, et sub iisdem symbclis 1'atet; 
quorum nonnulla, ut anguis cucullatus, inAegyptionun 



5; 

monumentis frequens, earum religionum indigenae 
sunt : aries quoque, in nummo antiquissimo Clazome- 
niorum supra citato impres3us, eodem eitu et figura 
membrorum et corporis, quo aries saceriin zodiaco In- 
dico, efKgiatus est: nee non militeslndi, qui sub no- 
stris ducibns nuper stipendia meruerunt, suos deos et 
eorum sacra inter Aegyptiorum veterum numina et 
eigna hieroglyphica ubique agnoverunt. Literas autem 
et monetae cudendae artem Indos a Graecis sub Mace- 
donum et Parthorum imperiis acccpisse, probabile est: 
nullum enim eju6modi monumentum apud cos, tempo- 
ribus iis antiquius, adhuc inventum est; et signa lite— 
rarum aeque ac nummorum Indicorum veterum forma 
et fabrica imitationis Graecorum recentiorum etiam 
notas manifestissimas prae se ferunt. 

Etsi inventionis ratio in omnium artium origine et 
progressu suaderet, sigilla in lapidibus pretiosioribus 
insculpta ad imagines in ceram imprimendas prius ad- 
hibita esse, quam typi ad monetam e metallo aliquo cu- 
dendam fierent; nulla tamen ejusmodi sigilla perantiqua 
in dactyliothecis mihi videre contigerat, cum anno de- 
mum MDCCCVI. vir eximius Guliclmus Gell, de Ute- 
ris Graecis, praesertim Homericis, optime meritus, e 
Peloponneso reportavit et mihi humanissime dedit ja- 
spidem purpuream triquetram, magnitudine semiuncia- 
lem ; cujus in una parte est leo , in altera leo bovem ju- 
gulans, cum hederae corymbo supra, in tertia duo ju- 
venci recumbentes, cum corymbo item Dionysiaco; 
omnia pereleganti, antiquissimo licet, opificio, leonum 
in Mycenarum portis per6imiii, insculpta; neque mone- 
tam ullam , quae tantae speciem vetustatis prae se fer- 
ret, hucusque vidimus. Mycenaica ea leonum anagly- 



58 

pha, quorum membra et corpora capjtibus amissis 
nunc restant, eub Pelopidarum imperio sculpta esse* 
vix dubitare Hcet; neque jaspidis nostrae sigilla aevi 
multo serioris esse crediderim ; ita ut symbola mystica 
decimo a. Ch. n. saeculo Peloponnesi incolis haud ignota 
fuisse pro comperto habeam. Neque tamen infkias eo, 
potuisse tarn 6ymbola quam nuinina mystica sacerdoti- 
bus et aliis principibus viris plane innotuisse, et inter 
8ecretiora diulatuisse, antequam poetis et rhapsodis ea 
in coetus hominum vulgares proferre et promuJgare li- 
cuisset: ubicunque enim sacerdotes extiterunt, myste- 
ria ad sanctimoniam et reverentiam tacenda religione 
augendam excogitata sunt. Si ejusmodi sigilla in Pe- 
loponneso ante Heraclidarum rcditum facta fuerint, 
haud a ratione abhonret, colon06 inde oriundos, auctis 
jam diviiiis in tcnis, quae auro abundarent, ea adhi- 
buisse ad symbola ei imprimenda, quibus pondere vel 
pretio, in singulis portionibus, publica cujusque civi- 
tatis auctoritate comprobato, in mercatorum nsum non 
examinatum accipcrctur : vcl , si magis credere libet, 
eos Lydorum regibus, qui metalla possiderent, artifices 
ad ea in ejusmodi usum sculpenda suppcditasse ; nam 
isti reges , teste ipso Herodoto, qui Lydis monetae in- 
ventionem tribuit , Graecos artifices ad omnia elegantio- 
rum artium opera perficieuda accersere solebant ( Lib. 
I. 25. etc. 5i.). 

$. LX. 

In Odyssea perinde atque lliade dttxrtxo; et iuq^art- 
nog est tantummodo articulus, nostratium Britauno- 
rum, quam Graecorum posteriorum, Atticorum prae- 
sertim, consuetudini loquendi aptiorj atque ubi aliter 



59 
usurpatus sit, pro rhapsodi alicujus foetu habendus, et 
cum caeteris ejusmodi sordibus baud cunctanter eji- 
ciendus. Cum autem carmina poetae ac rhapsodi veteris 
gestu vehementiore recitare solerent, et scenico quodam 
more inter recitandum voce, vultu, manu ac totius 
corporis motu animorum affectus exprimere, et quid- 
quid versibus perstringere vellent, tanquam praesens 
ostendere, articulus haud infrequenter ea ratione nomi- 
nibu8 praefigebatur ; neque alia propriam ejus vim in 
Homericis aut percipere aut aentire possumus x ). Ad- 
jectivis nihilominus, substantivorum loco usurpatis, ut 
ytQwv, ytQuiog, £(7vog t etc. praefixus pronominis vicem 
explebat; neque causa erat, cur doctissimus Heyne ab 
ejusmodi vocibus deturbare vellet. 

0. LXL 

Serior tamen et vulgaris articuli usus, quanquam 
Hesiodi carmini perinde atque Homericis ignotus, sa- 
tis antiquus esse videtur, atque jamdudum invaluisse, 
cum Etrusci et Latini, non modo deorum quorundam 
nomina, sed vocabula etiam , quorumvis bominum ser- 
moni quotidiano apprime necessaria , a Graecis recipie- 



i) Sic cum Hector Paridi minitabundus exprobrat — 

oi'x «V toi XQat'auT] xt'#ap/? , rd rs Svry \4(pQodltfi? , 

7] TS ytOflT] , TO T6 f/<?0?, OT tV XOVlJjOt fiiyUqe. 

poeta vel rhapsoduS , sub Ilectoris persona, ra SinQa y ti)v 
xo/j.r t v , x«i to eiS jS Paridis tanquam praesentis , audientibus 
inter recitandum gestu quodam contumelioso ostendcbat; 
unde articuli singuli singulis praenxi sunt: dum v.L$OLQiv y 
qmm Paris secum in proeliis non habebat, sic indicare haud 
licuit; atque ideo articulus importune ei adhibitus esset, ne- 
que Paris in excusatione articulum adhibet; ab ejus cnim 
persona gcstus omnia emph.iucus in sua SuIqo, turn prorsus 
«lienus fuisset. 



6o 

bant; nam TERRA, haud alia ratione e rtj tQu, quam 
TVRMES, Etruscum dei Mercurii nomen, e ro, 
compobitum esse oportet. Vetustior igitur priscorum 
vatum vel aotdcov poesis inter Graecos, quam ejusinodi 
nomina aut in Etrusca aut in Latina lingua. 

§. LXII. 

In ChronicoParioHesiodus sub finem decimi a. Ch. 
n. saeculi vixisse traditur; et quanquam me fateor pa- 
ram fidei habere marmori isti celeberrimo, in hac re ni- 
hilominus auctoritas ejus plurimum valet, quod rationi- 
bus idoneis fultam video: atque si e sermonis cujusque 
proprietatibus, quas sentire potius, quam definire pos- 
tim, ariolari licet, Odysseae auctorem centum circiter 
annis, lliadis ducentis ante Hesiodum cecinisse puta- 
rem 1 ). Sic Iliacum carmen, maximum et pulcherrimum 
humanae mentis opus, ci ipsi saeculo tribuerhn, quo 
Iones Pcloponncso expulsi, in Asiam commigiabant, 
quod aptissime convenire videtur turn scheraati uni- 
versali poematis , turn iis episodiis , quorum dilTicile 
xationem reddeic nisi e casibus ct rebus gestis illorum 
tempo rum. 

§. LXIII. 

Poetae enimvero et sociis, si propriis pulsi sedibos 
alienas appetere coacti etsentj neque gratior neque 



i ) In Chronico Hesiodus Horaero prior est: at Catoni majori, 
npud Ciceron. de senectute , Homerus multis ante sacculis 
fuisse visus est: item doctioribus omnibus , credo. Poema- 
tion tamen, quod unicum Hesiodi nunc extat, iu inquuia- 
tum et interpolatum est, at ejus testimonio de poetae aetata 
lion temereutilice.it. Vox nihilominus, dxooxvfyaJo;, quam 
Ilomeiica prosodia prouus recusaret, in venu nou suspecio, 



6i 

aptior carminum materia inveniri poterat, quam bella in 
iisdem terris olim a majoribus gesta tanta gloria et 
tam prospero successu; neque ulla efRcacior ratio sua- 
dendi concordiam inter suos , quam clades et calamita- 
tes commemorare, quae, e rixis et jurgiis priorum du- 
cum orLae, successus illos aut retardassent, aut dubios 
tantisper reddidissent. 

JJ. LXIV. 

Uibium Peloponnesi eversio obscure ambigueque 
lndicatur, ul casus adhuc anceps, at deorum consiliis 
antea agitatus, atque ideo exspectandus *); sic ut si- 
mul cuperet ac timeret poeta aliquid certi pioferre in- 
ter homines, qui e longinquo patrias illas sedes ab ho- 
stibus occupatas contemplarentur, nee certe scirent, si 
eas conservassent, an diiuissent, 

(). LXV. 

Catalogus geographicus totius Graeciae, e nomini- 
bus propriis regionum, urbium, vicorum, montium 
et amnium conrlatus, vix aliorum hominum sensibus 
ea aetate aptari poterat, quam exulum, qui iis ipsis in 
locis uueritiam degerant: nam mcra ista ac nuda scien- 
tia rerum, quae in didactica recentiorum poesi tantas 
laudes meruit, nullas illecebras habere potuerat apud 
homines rudes etagrestes; quales erant. etiam principes 
civitatum et duces exercituum Homericis temporibus. 
Tales homines nulla ratione se doceri patiuntur, nisi af- 



seriorem pronunciandi consuetudinem plane declarat. Vide 
infra §. CLIII. etc. 

1) Iliad. J. 51 — Q. 



62 

fectibus animi vehementer commotio qua evenit, ut 
apud omnes gentes primi sapientiae magistri fuerint 
poetae, omnisque doctrina, vel de prudentja vitae, vel 
natura reruro, vel potestate deorum, sub fabularum pro- 
digiosarum involucris propagata sit. Ne summus qui- 
dem ornatus pulcherrimorum versuum ita commendare 
potuisset mera nomina et apposita Graecarum urbium, 
vicorum, montium et amnium Graecis Graeciae inco- 
lis, ut libenter audirent vel optimum poetam et &to7g 
ivuViyiuov doidov, qui talia cantitasset. Neque colonis lon- 
ginquis et inveteratis, qui in nova patria nati , nullam 
antiquae vel memoriam vel notitiam habuissent, ejus- 
modi catalogus motum vel affectum ullum animorum 
excitasset. Exsulantibus autem et vi pulsis , qui 'amore 
quodam indigena locorum consuetorum adhuc teneren- 
tur, nullam materiam aptiorem ad captandos animos 
atque intimos eorum sensus et affectus commovendos 
poeta naturae observantissimus seligere poterat. Omne 
nomen et appositum, unaquaeque vel tenuissima nota, 
quasi in tabula votiva, mentibus ostenderet anteactae 
cujusque vitae cursum — gaudia, aerumnas, ludos — ■ 
puerorum errores , juvenum voluptatee, virorum cu- 
ras; quae omnia, memoriae infixa, honiinuq| affe- 
ctus semper retrahunt ad locos, in quibus ea primi 
experti sint. 

§. LXVI. 

Objici forsitan potuerit Hesiodi carmen didacticum: 
quod Homericis quamvis multo poaterius, ejus tamen 
aetatis est, qua antiqua morum simplicitas adhuc inva- 
luit. Sed alia prorsus est ratio rerum , quibus instru- 
ctumest; neque sententiae, in usam vitae civitis et 



65 

agrestis collectae, et versibus intextae, speciem autna- 
turam habent scientiarum earum exquisitiorum • quae, 
cum neque opibus, neque commodis publicis vel priva- 
tis aliquid contulerint, tam contemtui apud rudes ho- 
mines semper fuere, quam otiosis et luxu diiHuentibas 
in deliciis. Prudentiae autem domesticae, ac juris com- 
munis et officii praecepta , quae vates Ascraeus e senten- 
tiis sparsis et jampridem vulgaris concinnasse et or- 
nasse potius quam de suopte ingenio deprompsisse vi- 
detur, omnium hominum interfuit cognoscere et me- 
moria tenere; dum situs ac nomina locorum alienorum, 
nisi ex usu et consuetudine anteactae vitae affectibus 
animi infixa et inhaerentia essent, nemo ea aetate vel 
scire vel audire curasset. 

§. LXVII. 

Mihi igitur vix dubitandum esse videtur , quin poe- 
ta ipse et primi auditores Iliadis ex iis fuerint, qui inter 
annum millesimum centesimum et millesimum quin- 
quagesimum a. Ch. n, e Peloponneso et aliis forsitan 
Graeciae regionibus in Asiam migraverunt, et floren- 
tissimas urbes, bonis artibus et ingeniis fecundissimas, 
condiderunt. Hoc temporis intervallo poetam vixisse, 
nonnulli veterum prodidere, praesertim Pseudo- Hero- 
dotus $ qui e traditione quadam melioris certe notae, 
quam caetera istius libelli de vita Homeri farrago, eum 
natum esse anno sexcentesimo vigesimo secundo ante 
Xerxis expeditionem, qui est millesimus centesimus se- 
cundus a. Ch. n., scripsit: cum ipse Herodotus, ducen- 
tis serius annis et Homerum et Hesiodum floruisse, 
-tradidisset, verbis tamen quae plane indicant, fuisse 



64 

turn quoque, qui pro aevo priore conteftderent *); at- 
que eorum sententiae Aristarclius calculum adjecisse 
traditur z ). 

Duae praecipuae migrationes a chronographis me- 
moratae sunt, altera Aeolum anno millesimo centesimo 
vigesimo quarto; altera Ionum anno millesimo quadra- 
gesimo quarto a. Ch. n.; sed hanc stirpium distinctio- 
nem poeta videtur prorsus ignorasse; neque inter gentes 
Hellenicas, quarum nomina et situs recensuit, utBoeo- 
torum, Epeiorum, Abantum, etc. usque meminit Aeo- 
lum , vel Dorum, vel Ionum: locum enim Iliadis, (IV. 
681 — 700.) quo Iones Attici laudantur, insititium esse 
Heyne jampridem monuit; neque de eo ejiciendo nobis 
ambigetur. 

§. LXVIII. 

Dores, cum nullis certis sedibus diu erraesent, 
jam ante Troica tempora montes altos ac nivosos inter 
Thessaliam, Pliocidem et Aetoliam habitabant : ); 
quorum reliqui incolae in recensione copiarum atquc 
in proeliis subsequutis numcro ac virtute insignes sunt. 



i) Lib. 11. C. 55. 

2) Tots Ss yoovoi? avt AqI- 

oTagyov cfctat yarlaSa: 

vax&Qti tiji Tvjy 'Hoa/... 

X(J7;orou. excerpt. A. Aliae \ j-ateutiae in Pliilo- 

strati Heroicis asservanu:r. yiyove r 

jfiev', ok flip (faaiv tviot , 

Tqw'ixujv ol tit utTu f.T mvor t 

ore rijv diroixiav oi > A\hjvalQi h '- cv 01 oe 

th'jxovra v.al ixaroi' txtj ysyovlvai /used tj]v Tooiav 1 

Qov T f y.al 'Hoiodov. C. XVIII. S. 11. 
5) Herodot. lib. I. C.5G. 



65 

De Doribus autem silet poeta , quod eos non participes 
belli crediderit, aut in patriae hosles iniquior, rerum 
gestarum gloria fraudare voluerit. Parcus est quoque 
tarn Tliadis quam Odysseae poeta in Herculis Jaudibus; 
quanquam res ejus materiam carminibus antehomericis 
haud paucis praebuisse videntur: sed posteri ejus Do- 
rum, qui Peloponnesum subegerant, duces erant: at- 
que earn ob causam fortasse nlius ejus Tlepolemus, pri- 
ma statim pugna, et nullo memorabili edito facto, so- 
lus e regibus Graecis occisus est 1 ); et ipsi pessimum 
omnium facinus, hospitis nempe caedes inter sacra men- 
sae patrata, imputatum est E ). 

§. LXIX. 

t)orum sermonem antiquum aC semibarbamm, a 
Lacedaemoniis, veterum morum modorumque tenacis- 
eimis, servatumesse, credo; et specimen ejus , corru- 
ptum scilicet ac mendosum, adhuc extare in decreto 
conrra Timotheum 3 ). Dorica dialectus, alyricis* tra- 
gicis et bucolicis poetis usurpata, non est sermo genti- 
licius populi alicujus ; sed lingua in usum poeticum con- 
ficta, atque partim e variis archaismis, partim ex usu 
vulgari recentiorum Dorum conflata ; quorum praeci- 
pua pars sermonis ex Aeolico formata est. 

Aeolum tamen atque lonurn lingua una eademque 
fuisse videtur, neque in diversas abiisse dialectos, nisi 
post emigrationes inAsiam; ubi gentes illae, qiiae ge- 
neratim t)anai et Achaei appejlabantur, in varias ct a 



f) II. E. 663. 
a) Odyss. <£. 27. etc. 

3) a Boettiio asservat. et Oxonii edit. ami. 177' 

E 



66 

se invicem remotas civitates dispersae , in varias Species 
diversorum idiomatum patrium eermonem paullatim de- 
flectebant ; ita ut Herodoti aetate quatuor varietates lin- 
guae inter ipsos Iones Asiaticos observarentur x ) ; neque 
pauciores neque minus diversos fuisse modos loquendi 
in Siciliae et Italiae coloniis , e veterum monumentis ac 
testimoniis certissime constet. Verbum , quod in com- 
muni et Attico sermone TIAA22SI et TIAATTSl scribe- 
batur, apud diversos Doricae 6tirpis populos TIAAZQ, 
IIAA2ASZetIIAAAA£2, fiebat; atque alias Dorismus an- 
tiquus in varias abibat formas, singulas singulis civitatibus 
proprias et peculiares: alius enim erat sermo Argivorum, 
alius Lacedaemoniorum, alius Rhodiorum, alius Creten- 
6ium, etc. etc. *); neque ipsius Cretae una eademque 
erat omnium civitatum dialectus , at aliarum aliae, ut e 
nummis adhuc extantibus plane liquet. 

J$. LXX. 

Ab his omnibus Attica dialectus quam plurimum di- 
etabat; atque quo elegantius ornata, exculta et perpolita 
esset, eo magis a fontis ac parentis lucida et simplici 
magniloquentia delabebatur; ipsis tametsi istis elegan- 
tiis locum et auctoritatem parentis postea acquisiverit. 

§. LXXI. 

Parens autem ac fons, e quo reliquae omnes "efflu- 
xerunt, est lingua Homerica, quae non e diversis dia- 
lectis et licentiis poeticis, ut grammatici somniarunt, 
conflata est, sed Achaeorum vel Danaorum veterum ser- 



i ) Lib. I. S. 142. 

2 ) Gregor. Corinth. Episc. de dialect. Dor. S. XLI. XCI. et 
Koen. not. in eunJ. 



6 7 

mo quotidianus et universalis fuit; quo Homericis tem- 
poribus omnia publica et privata negotia transigeban- 
tur, atque omnes sensus et affectus animorum expri- 
mebantur: eorum enim temporum homines neque lexi- 
ca^, neque gramniaticas , neque libros ullos habebant; 
quopropter, si poeta verba insolita, aut modos loquen- 
di ab usu communi abhorrentes , in carminibus usurpas- 
set, nemo auditorum intellecturus fuisset. 

§. LXXTf. 
Haec tamen lingua, cum carmina literis primum 
mandabantur, iamdudum exoleveratj qua evenit, ut 
rhapsodi et grammatici, qui ea sic redegerunt, cum ne- 
que indolem neque formam ejus plane perspectam habe- 
rent, omnia ad suas ipsorum dialectos vulgares tradu- 
xerint, atque, quoties versuum mensurae modos loquen- 
di longiores vel pleniores desiderarent, toties licentiam 
istam poeticam excogitaverint, ac literis insititiis hia- 
tus suppleverint: Graeci enim veteres cum omnium ex~ 
terarum linguarum incuriosi, turn in suae propriae prisca 
indole et originibus indagandis minus seduli et attend 
fuere; ita ut Thucydides et Aristoteles, viri acumine, 
scientia et eruditione facile principes , haud aliter in 
hac re caecutirent, quam quivis e trivio sophista vel 

rhapsodus. 

§. LXXIIL 

Incredibile cuipiam fortasse videbitur, poema 

ornatissimum , et omnigenae eloquentiae gratiis ac 

firtutibus referturn, in lingua tarn exculta compositum 

esse sexcentds annosf antequam ullus prosae oratioriis 

scriptor extitisset. At quamdiu usus literarum , ob pe- 

nuriam materiae ad scribendum aptae, in paucis tan- 

turn et brevibus titulis in lapidibus, aut tabulis ligneis, 

E 2 



65 

aut laminis plumbi vel aeris insculptis, haesit, quidquid 
de laudibue deorum, heroum factis, aut sapientiae 
praeceptis, uberiore eloquii cursu traderetur, versibus 
condire solenne erat, ut facilius memoria teneretur> 
atque ita per rbapsodos, qui et librorum et librario- 
rum vice tunc fungebantur, in publicum prodireU 
Mu6as ideo non Phantasiae neque Inventionis filias esse> 
6ed Memoriae , mytbographi finxere ; et poeta eas ma- 
xima intentione animi invocavit, non ut Achillis vel 
Diomedis ingentia facta cantaturum adjuvarent, sed ut 
catalogum facerent, partem operis, cui Musarum opem 
minime necessariam qui vis nostri aevi poeta putaverit. 

§. LXXIV. 

IVoicis jam temporibus regem unumquemque po- 
tentiorem in familia poetam aluisse, constat, qui ho- 
spites et amicos in conviviis delectaret, ac civium ani- 
mos ad pietatem et virtutem accenderet , dum deorum 
laudes, et majorum res fortiter gestae, carminibus 
ad lyram cantatis celebraret. Poetae item singu- 
li, qui arte et ingenio caeteris praecellerent, et quo- 
rum Fama jam latius percrebuisset, haiul uniua princi- 
pis patrocinio, vel unius gentis aestimatione content!, 
longinquis peregrinationibus gloriam captabant, atque 
artem , quam colcbant , vario rerum usu, et hominum 
experientia ornabant augebantque. Talem fuisse credo 
Thamyrim ilium Thracium; qui, dum ab Oecbalia red- 
lbat, vocem ac memoriam , morbo aliquo in itinere 
correptus, perdidisse videtur (Iliad. B. %o. ); talem- 
que fuisse ipsum Iiiadis auctorem, turn veterum tradi- 
tio, turn carminis indoles ac forma vix dubitare sinit ; 
non enim curiosus adeo in laudibus inter Graecorum 



procerus aequaliter dispcrtiendis fuisset, neque tarn sub- 
tili artificio singulorum agtortiag^ ita ut reliquorum 
gloriae non obessent, distribuisset , nisi singulis eorum 
posteris , turn forte regna singularum gentium tenenti- 
b,us , placere etuduisset, 

§. LXXV. 

Poetarum itaque arte et ingenio, aeque atque ora- 
torum studio et contentione, lingua Graeca ab ipsis in- 
cunabulis exculta et perpolita est; atque ea ratione un- 
ctior quaedam splendidiorque consuetudo loquendi 
efciam in quotidian© sermone et de tenuissimis rebus in^ 
valuit: neque in ilia simplicitate morum, cum. maximi 
reges aratorum , messorum , pastorum , atque etiam co- 
quorum ofliciis fungerentur, ejusmodi officia Musae de- 
dignatae sunt: at humillimas res nativa verborum gra- 
vitate, modorum gratia , et numerorum suavitate, in 
heroicae majestatis fastigium extolleba.nu 

§. LXXVf. 

Neque eloquentiae popularis ac forensis minore* 
fnisse laudes aut praemia viliora, quam bellicae fortitu- 
dinis, in heroicis temporibu^videntur; e compluribus 
enim utriusque carminis tocis satis liquet, nullum foe-* 
dins opprobrium in principem virum ingeri potuisse, 
quam dxairoiw&ov , confuse loquentem, esse: cum enim 
regna et imperia moribus plus quam legibus, et opinio- 
nibtis plus quam viribus starent, unusquisque rex vel 
princeps civitatis tantum inter cives potestate praevale- 
bat , quantum armis in bello vel eloquio in pace prae- 
minere visus esset; quapropter omnes, qui eo loco nati 
cssent , ut sibi rempublicam capessendam quodammodo 



7* 

sperarent, artem dicendi baud minus quam pugnandi 
callere oportebat, principemque virum liberaliter insii- 
tutum arte omnia decebat 

S* quis autem exquisite ornatum se reddere studeret, Ho- 
merici instar Achillis, medicinae scientiam , quatenus 
bello utilis in vulneribus tractandis , et musicae vel poe- 
eis faeultatem, qua propriam virtutem , alicrum fortia 
facta canendo, accenderet, addere oportebat. Ex ipsa 
itaque morum simplicitate, et aliarum artinm inscitia, 
eloquentia invaluit; ac lingua, natira quadam gratia et 
elegantia ab omni fuco rhetorico aliena, exculta et or- 
nata est. 

§. LXXVII. 

Carmina haud pauca ante Iliadem per Graecornm 
urbcs decantata fuisse, vix dubitandum est, quamvis 
nihil antiquius nunc extet, neque in veterum bibliothe- 
cis extitisse videatur; nam quae sub antiquiorum po- 
rum nominibus circumforcbantur , ipsa serraonia indo- 
les ac forma postrriora aetate esse prodit. Ante Shahs- 
pearium item nostrum haud pauci tragoediarum et 
comoediarum scriptores fnerunt, qui plausu sui quisque 
theatri vicissim gaudebant ; etsi omnes ille vie fulgore 
ingenii sui ita perftrinxit, ut vix rei antiquariae studio- 
sis nunc isOti sint, ncque iis etiam adhuc innotuerint, 
nisi ars imprimeudi exemplaria ultra modum multipli- 
casset. Siclliacus, Credo, pacta omnes qui praeis- 
sent, longe supergvessus, eorum scintillis spleudorern 
suum ita oiiudit, ut prorsu& extinxerit, et quaecunque 
cecinissent, oblivisccnda ieceiit, antequam literis man- 
darentur. Tituli hexametri, quos Herodotus ex anathe- 



y 7 i 

matis templi Apollinis Thebis exscripsit, ni justis su- 
£picionibus obnoxii forent, specimina carminum non 
tantum ante - Homericorum , sed ante - Troicorunr, 
obtulissent: quandoquidem decimi quarti et decimi ter- 
tii a. Ch. n. saeculi esse debuissent^ neque de fide He- 
rodoti in exscribendo quae vidisset, vel narrando quae 
audisset, dubitandum est: de ejus autem judicio et acu- 
mine in fraudibus sacerdotum , sanctitatis famam e glo- 
ria antiquitatis captantium, detegendis jure suspicari 
licet; praesertim cum vox ftovva^ioiv, ut nihil dicam 
de sono ipso ac tenore versuum , notam manifestam se- 
rioris aevi prae se ferat J ), Alioquin ipsa anathemata il- 
liu6 aevi esse potuerint; etsi deorum templa, Homericis 
etiam temporibus , nondum in Graecia extitisse , e si- 
lentio utriusque poetae, nisi loco manifesteinterpolato a ), 
probabile est: attamen sacros fuisse thesauros ditissi- 
mos et celeberrimo8 et Orchomeni et Delphis certissime 
constat 3 ); et quam solide et magnifice ejusmodi aedi- 
ficia, ad res pretiosas fidei commissas tuendas, exstru- 
eta essent, adhuc exemplo est, quod, tantum non inte- 
grum, extat inter Mycenarum reliquias. Apud Graecos 
quoque veteres , urbibus vi captis ac dirutis , quodcun- 
que in «unum sacrorum sic depositum erat, intactum 
manebat; ita ut, Thebis paullo ante bellum Trojanum 
expugnatis ac direptis, nihil obstaret , quo minus quae 
Apollini antea dedicata essent , illaesa ad Herodoti ae- 
taiem pervenire potuissent; neque custodibus religio 
fuissct, quo minus quae de eorum veneranda antiqui- 



1 ) Heiodor. V- 59. etc. 

£) Iliad. B. 549. 

3; Iliad. I. 53! - 404, 5. 



72 

late tradita accepissciu, Uteris inscriptis connrmare 
auderent. 

$. LXXVIII, 

Unde literae Graecae originem duxcrint, et quo 
tempore signorUm numerum plenum acceperint, in ob- 
scure est: omnia enim , quae tradita 6unt de Cadmo, 
Palamede, etc. lubrica admodum et incerta sunt. De 
Cadmo, Leucoiheae, quae nata mortalis dea maris fa- 
cta est, patre, memoravit Odysseae auctor; ita tamen, 
ut nullam de ejus patiia \ el stirpe reliquerit notitiam x ) t 
Cadmei isti celeberrimi, qui Thebas inBocotia vel con- 
diderant vel occupavcrant , a poetaantiquiore memorati 
sunt, nulla tamen mentione facta vel stirpisvel regionis, 
qua oriundi esscnt. A Danais autem vel Achaeis prorsus 
alieni fuisse videntur: sed a ratione rcrum et moribua 
illius saeculi plane abborret , Phoenices, maiitimum 
genus, sedein occupasse aut coloniam constituiss 
procul a mari inter gentee ignotas et infestas. Caclmuui 
ipsum prorsus ignorasse videtur : neque, si nosset , et 
gentem Cadmeam pro ejus posteris habuisset, eos 
A'ctdfiiiovg , 6ed Kadftldag e sermonis indole uomir, 
Casmilus vel Cadinilus vetus Mercurii nomen fuit *); 
neque aliud fuisse credo Cadmum : unde Ilarmoniam, 
Martis et Veneris filiam, UBOrem duxiste fertur, atque 
cum ea in anguem mutatus esse, et dei sceptro vel ca- 
duceo adhaesissc; qua mysticae rcligionis allcgoiiam 
cuivis deprehendere licet. 



i ) Od. E. 555 — 5- 

2) Schol. iii Apolion. Rkod. I. 9x7, 



§. LXXIX. 

De Palamede uterque silet poeta; unde patet, nul- 
lum fuisse eo nomine ducem in bello Trojano, sed 
omnia de eo tradita, et de literis ab eo inventis, poste* 
rorum commenta esse. Neque minus incerta sunt, quae 
de literarum vocalium duplicum, postea inventarum, 
origine et usu memorantur, Earum usus apud Athe-* 
nienses anno quarto Olympiadis nonagesimae sextae, a. 
Ch. n. trecentcsimo nonagesimo tertio , arclionte Euch% 
de, primum obtinuisse dicitur *): unde y /ast Evxltidriv 
y^c.fi/ituTW} seriorem et perfeciiorem scribendi modum. 
denotat 2 ). Euripides autem,, qui quatuordecim anr- 
te annis mortuus est, in tragoedia, quam diu ante 
mortem composuisse videtur, signa literarum et II in 
nomine QII2R T2 accuratissime descripserat et audien-* 
tibus, ut omnibus jampridem nota et usitata, obtule- 
rat 3 ). Atque Calliaa, comicus Atheniensis Sophocle et 
fcuripide antiquior, H> et SI haud minus graphice expres- 



1) 'J&ijvaZot w&vro aroi'^loit KJ %Qdo&ai , ttqotsq'ov IF %QoU 
fiti'oi. Chion. Pascli. 

2 ) Plutarch, in Aristide, 
5) Tliei. fvagm. V- 

JCt'xApff Tli CUff TOQVOlGlV tXUSTQOVfilVOS ' 

tiros d* ly m st tnjpilov tv fiioq? oacpts * 
«ro dsvrspov Ss , ttqujto, fxiv ygapfial Svo\ 
rcn'ras Steigyu & iv fitoais tilh; fiia * 
xqltov St @6otqv%os ns ok ti'kiyptvoS' 
to # al rlraQTov, qv pH «'S ogfrov fzt'a, 
Aofcti <V *V airfc t^7s xaTiorr^iyuhai 
tlalv to -xiumov d' ol* iv zvaaQtu tfQaaat' 
yQaupal yu-Q uolv t» diforo'jTOiv $vo, 
ixvrae ££ avvTQt%ovvtv «* /"'«*' 0«<wi'» 



sit in fragmento apud Athenaeum r ). In nummis iden- 
tidem Graecarum civitatum nonnullarum Thraciae vel 
Mactdoniae, quos e quadrato quadripartito incuso, et 
rudi opif'cio , quinti ealtera, vel etiam sexti a. Ch. n. 
saeculi esse liquet, signa // et Si occurrunt; atque in 
aliis item cum forma antiquissima tov T in V latino as- 
servata 2 ); cum nihilominus seriorem earn T Euripi- 
dis aetate ab omnibus usurpatam* esse e versibus supra 
citatis plane constet. 

§. LXXX. 

Cum quinto demum saeculo a. Ch. n. historias pe- 
destres Graeci componere studuerunt, Iouum dialectus 
maxime florebat ; ita ut Herodotus, Doricae in Asia ci- 
vitatis civis , et Atticae coloniae in Italia incola , ea 
uteretur in opere, quo totius generis humani res dicere 
sibi proposuerat, et quod Olympico certamine omnium 
Graecorum coetui recitare destinaverat. 

§. LXXXI. 

Interea autem Athenienses , opibus, viribus, im- 
perio, et rerum gestarum gloria praepollentes, eloquen- 
tia quoque, cum forensi turn poetica et echolastica, 
omnes alios supereminebant; undo eorum dialectu* 
principem locum obtinebat; atque, apud exteras gentes, 
fautores, patronos et cultores habebat Arclielaum Ma- 
cedonum regem, Dionysium Syracusanorum, ac Mau- 



l) cq&i} fiaxQa ygafxui] 'any* ix t<zvtt;s /aiai;i 

y.iXQa rraQsoTujo* ixartomdiv tnria * 

L. X. C. LXXX. ed. Schweigh. 
a) In Veliensium minimis anti«jui55inus Musci nostri. 



solum et Hidrenm Caruna. In Macedonum quidem re^ 
gum nummis patriae dialecti vestigia occurrunt usque 
ad Philippum Amyntae nlium, qui Atticum sermonem 
in omnibus regni negotiis usurpasse videtur^ atqueAle- 
xandro filio tradidisse; a quo per orbem terrarum pro- 
pagatus est; ita ut postea non solum Europae atqueAsiae 
citeriorie reges eo uterentur, sed etiam Bactriae, Par- 
thiae, Syriae et Aegypti, quorum omnium in titulie et 
nummis usus ejus dialecti solennis erat. Paucis igitur 
immutata, pro lingua communi Hellenum habita est; 
dum omnia antiqui sermonis idiomata inter gentium sin- 
gularum diversas aberrationes, vel poetarum licentias, 
a sopbistarum, rhetorum et grammaticorum gregibus 
refcrebantHr. 

§. lxxxii. 

Horum hominum maxima colluvies, Ptolemaeorum 
munificentia undique excitata, in urbem Alexandriam 
confluxerat; ubi baud pauci in carminibus Homericis 
corrigendis, rxpoliendis, et in pristinum nitorern resli- 
tuendis , sub regum auspiciis operam impendebant. 
Exemplaria antiqua aut eorum apographa undique con- 
quisita sunt et inter se collata; e quibus Zenodotus 
Ephesius, primus bibliothecae Alexandrinae sub Ptole- 
maeo II. custos, novam editionem confecit; de qua 
multa memorantur in scholiis Venetianiset Enstathianis; 
sine tamcn indice vel ulla nota, qua ab iis , quae pro- 
priis conjecturis, quibus nimium indulsisse videtur, in- 
tulerit, ca distinguantur, quae e vetuetis exemplaribus 
kauserit. 



7 S 

§. Lxxxni. 

Aliae editiones et recensiones , quarum celeberrima 
Aristophanis, 6ub Ptolemaeo IV. vel V. subsequutae 6unt, 
(de quibus multa docte disputaverunt viri clarissimi 
Ansse de Villoison et F. A. Wolfius) ac demum sab Pto- 
lemaeo VII., medio secundo a. Ch. n. saeculo, inclyta 
ilia Aristarchi, quae ut norma et fundamentum omnium 
posteriorum stetit et adhuc stat. Idem Aristarchus al- 
teram quoque editionem atque item commentaria inHo- 
memm fecit; nisi forte altera ilia editio, ut doctisaimo 
de Villoison in mentem venit, e commentariis et securu 
dis curis ab aliis post mortem ejus confecta sit. Haud 
pauca ex utraque, itemque e commentariis extant in 
ficholiis Venetianis; et plura fortasse a librariis atquc 
editoribus tacite rccepta sunt: at prorsus ignoratur, ut 
in Zenodoli lectionibus, quae 6int veterum exemplariurn 
auctoritate fulta ^ aut quae e mente editoris orta, atque 
ejus judicio critico tantum commendata. Modeatiorem 
tamen Zenodoto haud paullo fuisse , turn in cjiciendis, 
turn in corrigendis vcrsibus, certum est: et minutissirqa 
quaeque tanti aestimasse videtur, ut vix credam, majo- 
ris momenti aliquid eum aut adjecisse aut mutasse, 
non praeeuntibus codicibus. In ejiciendo vcl obelisco 
notando audacior fuit; at non qua debuerat: e proprio 
enim ingenio magis quam veteris linguae ratione, aut 
poetae mente et consuetudine, judicium exercebat; et 
quae ipsi haud placerent , ejiciebat, non quae Homeri- 
co saeculo vel sermoni non convenient. Sermonis 
enimvero inscitiam vix credibilem produnt infelicea 
ejus conatus in supplendis hiatibus e detrimento digam- 
matis in 11. /. 128. et aliis haud paucis locis. qui, ut ab 
eo constituebautur, in scholiii Venetianis citantur. 



§. LXXXIV. 
Grammatici et critici Alexandrini eo perinde deli* 
querunt omnes, quod fontes et origines linguae nequa- 
quam intfagaverunt , sed quaecunque ab ipsorutn con-^ 
suetudine loquendi abhorrebant, inter dialectorum ano- 
rnalias et poetarum licentias retulerunx. Ea aetate quam- 
plurima adminicula inquirendi , et in scriptis monti- 
mentis * et in linguis incultis ac semibarbaris Italiae 
et aliarum Graeciae circumjacentium regionum, obvia 
et in promptu erant, quae jamdudum prorsus evanue- 
runt. Si quis tamen Aristarcho dixisset, veram formam 
et indolem Homerici sermonis e Latinorunij Etrusco- 
rum vel Oscorum linguis eruendam esse, haud aliter 
Btupuisset, credo, quam si Hibernicum antiquarium 
istum audiisset docentem , carmina e lingua Celtica vel 
Scythica in Graecam translata esse x ). In iis autem Ita- 
liae antiquae linguis principia ac primordia vetustissi^ 
mae linguae Graecae, inquinata scilicet et corrupta, la- 
tuisse, nemo, qui acutissimi Lanzii de hac re doctissi- 
mum opus inspexerit, dubitare poterit. 

§. LXXXV. 

Ex his igitur praecipue fontibus scaturigines illius* 
linguae, quae haud prorsus exaruerunt, deducendae 
sunt: atque ut architecti periti, paucis dirutorum aedi- 
ficiorum fragmentis efFossis, e membrorum proportione 
et artis ratione, schemata Integra restituunt; sic nos 
porro, paucis quibusdam radicibus inventis, quae ex 
iis pullulasse debuissent, computabrmus , et stemmata 
pulcherrima Homericae linguae restituere ac renovare 



i ) Collectanea IILbernica , Eraef. in vol. Ill, 



7 B 

conabimur; ita ut carmina, excussa rubigine, revire- 
scant, et venerandus ille eorum %vovg do'/uiongfTii-g rite 
reflorcscat. Criticorum ille princeps Richardus Bent- 
leius, atque alii viri docti, qui ejus vestigia insequuti, 
digamma Homericis reddere laborarunt, in hoc praeci- 
pue mihi errare visi sunt, quod de digammate tantum, 
non de tota orthographia antiqua reducenda, cogitarunt; 
sine qua digamma solum, vcrbonim tantum initiis 
rcdditum , inquinabit plura quam sanabit , et raodum 
ccribendi, ab omni omnium temporum consuetudine 
loquendi perinde alienum, exhibebit. Lingua quasi to- 
ta immutata est: at Humeri tamen ac modi versuum in- 
tegri raanent, atque item analogiae graromaticae quan- 
tum ad probabilem aliquam ejus cognitionem perducere 
•uificiat. 

§. LXXXVI. 

Negat autem Priscianus digamma nisi vocali , atque 
ei in principio vocis pracponi posse , undo apud Aeoles 
in B transisset, quoties ab P inciperet dictio, quae a 
rari solita esset ; ita ut PU'iLlP , UPlITflP dixerint *). 
At serioris aevi Aeolum hunc morem fuisse, ipse postea 
agnoscit, cum veteres Latinos AF pro AB 6cripsisse tra- 
dit 2 ); neque aliter veteres Graecos F in line syllabae 
et ante consonantem p06uisse, eDeliaca inscriptione cer- 
tissime constat: cum enim sculptor inceitus haereret, 



i) Lib. I. p. 547. 

2) Habebat autem haec litera F hunc «onum, qnem OMM 

bet V, loco consonauiis posita, mule antiqui AF pro AB 
scribere solebant : sed quia non potest J"av t id est digamnu, 
hi fine syllabae inveniri , ideo muuta est in B. 



79 

an AFTO antiquiore more, an ATTO seriore scriben- 
dum esset, utramque literam adhibuit et vocem, ubi- 
que semper disyllabam, AFTTO scripsit. Sic Nuceri- 
nofum nummi antiquiores habent , literis Oscis, NU£- 
KRINUM; recentiores, literis Graecis, NOTKPIN&N. 

§. LXXXVH. 

Digamma a grammaticis Aeolicum dictum est, 
quia ab ea gente sola inter Graecos recentiores, post- 
quam apud omnes alias prorsus exoleverat, usurpabatur; 
non autem quia ab ea inventum fuerat, aut Aeolicae dia- 
lecto ab origine proprium ac peculiare: quoniam cer- 
tissime constat, turn tabulis Heracleensibus , turn mar- 
more Deliaco, et nummis Veliensium , usum ejus prio- 
ribus saeculis haud minus solennem fuisse in Dorum 
atquelonum, quam inAeolum sermone; Heracleia enim 
Italiae Dorum e Tarento colonia fuit 1 ); atque urbs- 
TEAU vel EEAIE (utroque modo nomen nummis in- 
8criptum est) a Phocaeis ex Ionia fugientibusOlymp. LX. 
condita est 2 ); etDelon, Caribus ante Homerica tem- 
pore expulsis, Iones semper postea possidebant 3 ). 

Compluribus ecboliorum Venetianorum locis mani- 
festumest, Aristarchum et alios veteres carminum Ho- 
mericorum redactores 6piritum asperum (-, quomodo 
priores F, non initiis tantum verborum adhibuisse , sed 
mediis etiam eyllabis compositorum scripsisse, quorum 
in elementis usurpatum vidissent: neque aliter eum 
extitisse in vetustioribus bibliotjiecae Alexandrinae 



i) M^zochi Tab. Heracleena. 

2) Herodot. lib. I. s. 168. Strabon. VI- p. 252. 

5) Thucyd. lib. I. Homer. Hymn, in Apoll. 



8* 

exemplaribas credere par est : quanquam in titulis et in- 
scriptionibus , quae nunc extant, paucissimis, atque ii» 
antiqiiissimis , locum omnino obtineat : apud recentio- 
res euim, in scribendo omissus, tanquam accentus vel 
prosodiae nota, in legendo subaudiebatur 2 ) , atque 
postea, omnibus doctioris antiquuatis, bonarum artium 
et literarum humaniorum etudiis jacentibus , inter ejus-* 
modi notas recensebatur 2 ). 

§. LXXXVIII. 

]\Iulta a grammaticis Alexandrinis varie disputata 
sunt de accentibus vel tonis vocis acutis, gravibus et 
circumflexis ; qui in scribendo, notulis vel virgulis uni- 
cuique vocali superimpositis, signiGcabantur. Hac no- 
tulae ab Aristophane, grammatico Byzantino, inventae 
sunt, ducentis circiter annis a. Ch. n., ut exteri ho- 
mines vulgarem linguae Graecae pronunciandi ratio - 
nem in libris indicatam haberent. Ad recentiorem v< ro 
dialectum Atticam, quae, sub Macedonum imperio, pro 
communi Graecoruni lingua habita est, unice pertinent j 
neque prosodiae ab antiquis poetis vol rhapsodis usurpa- 
tae ullam notitiam conferre possunu 

fi. LXXXIX. 

Haec vocis modulandae ratio e citharistae potiu^ 
quam rhetoxis aut grammatici arte pendet, et in omni- 



1) Vide Galen, coram. II. in Hippcicrar. lib. VI- de morb. rul-. 
p. 157. T. V. edL Basil. 

fi) lisp) twi' rrgooojFiur rdde • o^ua, Saoua, Hit. 

oTioutvT;, dno(rc(>o<fos t u ax (j a , i<fiv, f?pa££'a , t '-rrJiaoToh,. 
8. Epiph. de pond, et mens. t. XI. p. 158- Quantam krra- 
ginem in unani sententiolam bonus genex congetsit! 



8i 

bus Unguis adeo sufetilis ac mutabilis est, ut vix credam, 
in ulla, duas hominum aetatcs in eadem ad amussim 
perseverasse. Hinc diversae sententiae de notulis accen- 
tuum inquamplurimisvocibus inter grammaticosAlexan- 
drinos exortae sunt; quae omiies fortasse ab usu vete- 
rum poetarum , Atticorum etiam, perinde aberrabant: 
de eo enim homines Byzantii vel Alexandriae aetatem 
degentes , secundo a. Ch. n. saeculo, nihil omnino scire 
potuerunt. Circumflexus , nihilominus, quatenus con- 
tractionis nota, utilis tironibus esse potest, si constan- 
ter atque eodem semper significatu ubique adhiberetur: 
at vulgata de accentibus doctrina, quam Constantino- 
politanam esse puto, nulli alii rei inservire videtur, nisi 
pessumdareprosodiam metricam, substituta quadammu- 
sica prosodia, cujus indolem ac formam nemo hodie 
scit aut scire potest. Hujusmodi est prosodia, quaGrae- 
culi hodierni in carminibus veterum recitandis utuntur, 
nulla justae mensurae syllabarum ratione habita, ita ut 
dttvo(.u'jvi]i> , oulofii)vi]v , etc. semper dicant: neque nos 
Angli, qui duvO(*(ititfiv , ovXofAfAtvnv^ €tc - P ar * constantia 
dicimus, aures delicatiores vel doctiores habere vide- 
mur. In alterutrum vitium incidebant omnes, qui, me 
audicute, accentuum vim in Graecae linguae pronun- 
ciation exprimcre conati sunt: aut enim, voce sublata, 
et sono intentiore, vocalem producebant; aut ictu vel 
impetu quodam vehementiore ; articulandi consonantem 
cequutam conduplicabant. Hermannus, qui vim tantam 
in syllaba producenda accentui acuto tribuit, eum cum 
ictu, sive emphasi linguarum hodiernarum plane con- 
fudit; atque inde accentum gravem pro signo muto, 
nihil praeter acuti absentiam signihcante, necessario h#- 

F 



82 

bet. Mira tamen inconetantia, circumflexum ex utroque, 
id est, ex acuto etnihilo, compositum, plena potentia 
sua, vir doctus retinuit. De Metris lib. I. c. XXII etffl* 
et de Emend, gram. rat. lib. I. c. XIII. 

§. XC. 

Linguae veteres , praesertim Graeca , pins melodiae 

in pronunciation quam nostrae habebant ; quoniamspe- 

ciem quandam ac modulationem cantus , etiam in usu 

quotidiano et vulgari, ab ipsa natura acceperant; atque 

quo quaeque antiquior esset, eo magis haec species et 

modulatio ejus indoli propria erat; quia minus remota a 

vagitu infantum vel ululatu ferarum. Si quis nostrorum 

temporum orator servum tibicinem a tergo haberet, qui 

do*mini vocem eburneola fistula inter concionandum 

moderaretur, vix ullus, puto, ex infima etiam plebe, ri- 

sum teneret. Ita tamen in foro Romano concionabatur 

oratoruin sui saeculi princeps Caius Gracchus 1 ). Pro- 

nunciatio nihilominus latina concitatior ac velociorquam 

Graeca fuisse videtur , ea etiam aetate, qua Graecorum 

eermo ab antiqua grandiloquentia, et plena ilia ac so- 

nora Homericae linguae majcstate, jam diu delapsus 

erat 2 ). 

§. XCI. 

Poetis antiquis non INIusa tantum , sed ipsa natura 
dedit loqui ore rotundo : 6ua enim sponte fluebant ma- 
gnifica ilia 6esquipedalia verba ; quae, cum posteri pro 
fuco quodam poetico accepissent atque viribus et animis 
imparibus tractarent, in linguam istam facatam ac facti- 



1) Cicer. de Orat. lib. III. ad fin. 

2) Plutarch, in Demostb. sub iait. 



85 

tiam Alexandrlnorum poetarum abierunt, qua omnes 
postea usi sunt, qui carmina heroica versu dactylico he- 
xametro scriptitabant. Nam lingua ista, cum e variis 
ac discordibus dementis confiata esset, quantum quo- 
tumque quisque voluisset licentiae poeticae facile admit- 
tebat ; atque ideo percommoda erat iis , qui versus ad 
nauseam usque eftutire vellent, quales sunt Quinti Ca- 
^labri, Ncnni, Tryphiodori, etc. etc. Nebulones autem 
isti, cum linguam Homericam haud minus scatere licen- 
tii8 poeticis putarent, se proculdubio pro alteris Home- 
ris animo habebant , et attoniti mirabantur suam ipso- 
rum facundiam, quae in tot volumina, Iliade et Odyssea 
majora , nullo quasi nisu sese diffuderit. Neque minus 
fucatus , inquinatus, et ab omni omnium hominum ac 
temporum usu ac ratione loquendi alienus est sermo 
Arati et Apollonii Rhodii; cum poesis alioquin, si quis 
ejusmodi sermonis usum ei condonaverit, haud inficeta 
neque inelegans sit. In dictionum tamen sensu et syn- 
taxi, vera et aniiqua loquendi ratio, perinde atque in 
forma et flexione, neglecta est; neque minus stupuis- 
flent, aut magis intellexissent veteres aoidol aut eorum 
audientes a^qpaolr] pifiokfifitpog , oXe&Qov £yyvtxfo'€£, /?po- 
fitfanov axovcci , et alia infmita ejusdem farinae, quam 
nyaaTcc , wpaara, aaumTcc , et caetera istiusmodi monstra 
e grammaticorum et criticorum fuco conficta, quibus ad 
nauseam usque recentiorum carmina heroica farcta sunt. 
Virgilius vix magis miratus esset latinitatem Merlini Coc- 
caii. Neque vero tragici ea religione, qua poetae vete- 
res, suam unicuujue verbo propriam significationem tri- 
buerunt; sed multa indiscreta et ambigua adhibuerunt, 
quae inHomericis nonnisijusto ac certo discrimine usur- 
pantur. Ejusmodi sunt ®A2r^NON, 'ErXG2 et 

F2 



BEA02, singula singulorum armornm nomina; quae a 
Sophocle , poetarum Atticorum 'doctissimo , eousque 
confusa sunt, ut ensis, quern ab Hectore Ajax dono ac- 
ceperat, nunc &j£2FJNON, nomine proprio, raodo 
EVXOZ, hasta, et modo BEA02, jaculum vel sagitta, 
denominaretur J ); neque ea cultissimos Athenienses of- 
fendebant, etsi eorum majoribus, alioquin agrestibus 
et indoctis, sibilo vel irrisu excepta fuissent. 

§. XCII. 

Homericam autem linguam certa analogia consiste- 
re, suisque legibus teneri perinde atque Atticam tragi- 
corum, neque magis epenthesin vel metathesin vel alias 
qualescunque grammaticorum farragines unquam admi- 
sisse, epero fore, ut extra omnem dubitationem stabi- 
liam. Interim ut judicium aequum atque integrum ad- 
hibeat lector, neque de singulis singulatim, 6ed tota 
perspecta et perpensa rerum ac verborum serie et corn- 
page, sententiam ferat, obtestatus oro. Monumenta 
antiqua, e quibus aliquid luminis haurire possumus, 
perpauca sunt; et conjecturae e ratione linguae vel ana- 
logia grammatica petitae tantum auctoritate valent, 
quantum numeio exempla, quibus fulciantur. Potue- 
rim , ut Clarkius , ejusmodi exempla in notulis usque 
ad molestiam cumulare et iterare; sed malui indulgen- 
tiam lectoris petere quam patientia abuti. 

§. XCIII. 

Si verbo unicuique forma sua antiquissima redden- 
da esset , ad certum aliquem tinem certa quadam ratione 

Ajac. 653. 354. 



85 

perduceremur: sed lingua Graeca Homericis jamdudum 
temporibus immutari et perpoliri coeperat, ac paullatinl 
adlonicam illam elegantiam serioris aetatis flecti 5 ita ut, 
quo gradu steterit, cum Ilias et Odyssea conderentur, in 
tanto monumentorum veterura defectu, nullo modo sci- 
re possimus. In multis tamen haud prorsus improba- 
bilem ariolandi rationem praebent vocum mensurae; 
quas, cum metri legibus definitae sint, ipsa natura atque 
omnium linguarum indoles proclamat, non epenthesi- 
bus vel diaeresibus arbitrariis expletas vel productas, sed 
sermonis quotidiani usu communi fixas acstabilitasesse: 
inter homines enim literarum prorsus ignaros quisnam 
alium 8ermonera intellecturus fuerit? 

§. XCIV. 

In nonnullis etiamsi haud dubitaverim quin a rha- 
psodis vel grammaticis immutata sint, cum nihil tamen 
certi de Homericis formulis comperissem , vulgata reti- 
nui : nam mihi quoque inter virtutes grammatici habe- 
bitur aliqua nescire. Audacius nihilominus in aliis for- 
sitan egisse videar ; atque in his vereor ne mihi judicum 
inscitia crimihi aut fraudi sit : nam Alexandrinorum do- 
ctrina adhuc vigere apud criticos videtur; ita ut verba 
contracta pro primariis et antiquissimis thematibus ac- 
cipiant, atque 20B& vel 20F& a 2R , BOASi a B& 
etc. soluto circumflexu deducant. Oportuerit etiam, si 
in nugando viri docti sibi constare vcllent, Plautina ilia 
MAVOLO, NEVOLO, PRAEHIBEO, ITINER, SENI- 
CEM, etc. a MALO, NOLO, PRAEBEO, ITER, SE- 
NEM, etc. derivare, et rationem reddere, sicut solent 
grammatici, epenthesi literarum VO, EV, HI, IN, 
1C , etc. 



36 

§. xcv. 

Sed harum nugarum taedet pudetque; atque ideo, 
lie lectorem taedio , quo toties ipse affectus sum 3 afti- 
ciam , ad opus me accingam ; et primum gramniaticam, 
quatenus a seriore et vulgata discrepare visa sit, expo- 
nere conabor. 

§. XCVI. 

In vetustissima lingua omnia nomina augmentum 
in secundo casu accepisse videntur, adjecta syllaba, vel 
syllaba iinali in duas dissecta; ut 2SIMA 2SIMATOZ, 
BEMlZ SEMIZTOZ, KEPAZ KEPATOZ, TPIHPHZ 
\TPIHPEOSj etc. etc. Eodem modo ill ad TOZ ad- 
junctum fuisse credo omnibus nominibus in JZ desinen- 
tibus, quamvis dura ista et antiqua terminatio secundi 
casus paullatim emollita et contracta sit apud posteros in 
ITOZITOZ, hoZ/AOZ, et/OZ l ); Attica enim ter- 
minatio ejusdem casus in LSIZ e corruptela semionis ve- 
teris orta esse videtur; atqu 1 ideo pro dialecti idiomate 
nulla analogia fulto habemla; e qua grammatici , cum 
antiqua forma in quibiudani voc;bus jamdudum exole- 



1) TTapa tj Sairtpo? to JIOATUPUL — 6 Zoffoxlr,: "UPTJA 
(iji; ti]x> aiV/ar//?/)', o rt $>qvv»%09 ttjv si&tlav 'IJPIJE2. 
Schol. Ven. in II JT. 219. dijkov dt ort rt aklo otjuat 

.oov to&tlt *ABEMIT02 rragd ror ivzav&a 'Otn^txov 
'A0EMI2TON- xal or* wnttQ XAPIZ XAP1J02 xa. 
ptxcJc X-4P1T02, xara &L r?> iaQa 7/(><yoVt>J \4kxuavi- 
X17V iwoiv, xai APTEMIJ02 'APTEMJT02, olc 
Mil 02 0EPAI1ONTA , ovrlt xal 9BML2 GEM1T02 xal 
mil uraoutu tov oiyua(jEMI2T02, oiov 9BMLZTM JE it 
AIIMPRM, xai eg at tov 'A0EA2I2TO2. Eustttb. in Od. 
1. p. 1613. 1. 27. et sq. BOALSTQN. C1VIUM. Tab. He- 
xacleens. Neap. I. 32. Scholiastae, ut semper, formas anti- 
quissimas pro licentiis et dialectorura abeiTationibus kabent. 



8/ 
visset, et metrum nihilominus penultimam syllabam Ion- 
gam atque ultimam brevem flagitaret, monstrum illud 
poeticum in H02, ut HOAH02, effinxerunt. Tarde 
tamen et pedetentim haec licentia Homericis admissa 
esse videtur; Gregorius enim Corinthi episcopus, Co- 
mnenorum saeculi grammaticus , HOAI02 tantum pe- 
nultima producta, nusquam UOAH02 aut aliud ejus- 
modi inter dialectorum exempla citat, 

§. xcvir. 

In nulla autem lingua vel dialecto, quae verborum 
forma8 ac flexiones ex indole propria et usu hominum 
communi, non grammaticorum fuco, eiHnxit vel rede- 
git , ulla fuit unquam contractorum solutio , vel circum- 
flexus diaeresis, in alia quam in ea ipsa elementa, e qui- 
bus conflata sunt; ita ut Attica ista EI et OT 9 quae ex 
EA vel EE, et AO velEO, toties contracta sunt , non 
in EI vel of, sedin antiquaiL^ vel EE, et AO ve\EO, 
quoties disyllabis opus sit, dissecanda eint; et quaecun- 
que in recentiorum scriptis, praesertim Alexandrinorum, 
contraria occurrunt, pro factitiis habenda, atque eorum 
linguae fucatae adjudicanda. Sic KPATOZ in KAPA- 
T02, ut BAHTO in B AAETO , resolvi debuerat, non 
in KPAAT02 ', quod plane factitium est, ab omni 
omnium hominum patrio et quotidiano sermone alie- 
num, atque ideo ejusmodi, ut nemo e ve terum doidwv 
auditoribus intellexisset. Neque minus ex Homericis 
tollenda sunt alia , quae, distracto circumflexu, rhapso- 
di et carminum redactores, ad versus, e posterorum 
contractionibus claudicantes, supplendos, intulerunt; 
ut 0& pro Si ex AO contracto, etc. etc. 



88 

§. XCV1IL 

Quarti casus nominum in 12 desinentiam duplex 
est terminatio, IAA et IN; quae nihilominus ex una 
eademque antiquiore forma fiuxisse videntur; Latino- 
rum enim , qui M, pro Graecorum A", in compluribus 
nominum terminationibus usurpaverant, quartus casus 
in ejusmodi nominibus in IDEM desinebat; quod Grae- 
cis literis ac pronunciatione IAEN, et antiquiore eermo- 
ne IAAN fuiseet; e quo, amputatione literae nnalii, 
IAA; et elisione intermediarum, IAN > et postea IS 
factum est; ita ut PARIDEM, IIAPIAA, et Til FIX* 
ejusdera formae diversae variationes feint. Secandus ca- 
sus Latinorum in LDIS originem habuisse in notaxtouo) 
recentiorum videtur; nam antiquiora moaumenta eo- 
rum linguae VENERUS, CERERUS, HONOROS, etc. 
pro VENERIS, CERERIS, HONORIS, etc. exhibent';. 

§. XCIX. 

Hie iQ)Taxiap6g , cujus alia vestigia notabimus infra, 
e consuerudine pronunciandi ore constrictiore orieba- 
tur; atque usque adeo apud recentiores invaluit, ut ce- 
leberrimi regis norhen, quod in titujis ac nummis uni- 
ce 3I1BPAAA TII2 est , dcrivationi a deo Mithra con- 
gruen9, in libris omnibus tarn Graecis quam Latinis, tam 
manuscript* quam impressis, 6emper MWPIAATH2 
vel JMITHR1DATES sit; atque Greed hodierni vocales 
II et Tac diphthongos Bl % OI et 27 pro signis diversis 
ejusdemeoni, qui est simplicis /, habeant. 



i) Lanzi sopra lc lingue morti d'ltalia , P. I. C. VII. S. 1, 
06seir. IV". 



»9 

$. C. 

Etsi nullus unquam sonus in ulla lingua ad libitum 
loquentis immutari poterat, in linguis tamen parum cul- 
tis , ac nondum literarum usu fixis ac stabilitis , omnes 
soni, qui inter 6e aliquo modo cognati essent, usu quo- 
tidiano perfacile commutabantur. Hinc eae literae, 
quae spiritu denso vel aspero , i. e. non tantum a labris, 
eed a gutture vel pulmonibus , impetu quodam acriore, 
educto pronunciabantur *), ut 2 et P, \ et F, in va- 
rus dialectis, vel modis loquendi ex usu ortis, commu- 
tabiles erant; itaut x . in secundo casu plurali nominum 
eecundae declinationis , exempla extarent in antiquis 
Italorum sermonibus uniuscujusque harum literarum in 
eodem loco adhibitae ; atque MUSASUM et MUSARUM, 
MOTZAFSlNet MOT2A\SlN<> diversis regionibus ac 
temporibus perinde usurparentur. 

§. CI. 

In aliis titulis eerioris aevi, cum ejusmodi usus li — *; 
terarum jamdudum inter Graecos obsolescere coeperar, 
puncta nuda earum locos occupaverunt ; ut in MOTJSA, 
SIN, NTMOA.flN t etc. 2 ) Etrusci autem, quibus litera 
Oignotaerat, VUSAlS pro XOFAI2, vulgo ioaiq , in 
titulis scripserunt ; at Latini veteres ERIHONT et ERI- 



1) tori yaQ y filv ipil-q , 7CoioTr\i ovklaftys , uad' 7}V axgoig 
to~s xtileai To nvsvfia TtQO'ptQsrai , oiov Aias* ij Se daoeta, 
TiotoTTjg avV.a^tJg, xa^' ijv in fia&ovs ysiltojv ro nvsvfta ttt- 
<j>Iqst<u. Porphyr. ttsqi JIqoo'u8. in Villoison. Diatrib. p. 
i»4« V f** v Saoe7a in rov duqaitoe i>t7T£fi7ieTai, -?] Se xjJih) *£ 
axQOJV twv %Bt).ioiv» Ibid. 

3) Salmasius de L. Hellen. p. 431. Lanzi ib. Vol. I. p. 1Q> 26r. 
n<>r. T. ct pa-g. 506. 



9° 

FONT pro ERUNT, in tabulis Eugubianis, atque ERA- 
RUNT pro eodem in aliis monumentis; et RUIUS pro 
HU1US, INCROANDI pro INCHOANDI , etc. 1 ) Plau- 
tus etiam habebat pro GNAROS , GNARURES 2 ); unde 
originem ac formationem secundi casus GNARORUM in- 
telligere possumus; qui lingua et literis Graecorum anti- 
quissimis TNAPOFON vel TNAFoFON fortasse fuerit. 
Hanc tarhen formam exolevisse , et contractionem in SIN 
communi hominum usu sancitam esse, etiam in Home* 
ricis temporibus oportet; quoniam nullum ejus exem- 
plum in carminibus extat. In altera declinatione ratio- 
nem antiquissimae formae in ASIN vel AFSIN facile 
reddebant grammatici nkeovuofAw too A — tial di Aiolt- 
xa nteovaopov avowee xoZ A ficucyov 3 ). 

$. CH. 

Secundus nihilominus tertiae declinationis casut,' 
qui terminationem in oto habet, vexatissimus inter 
grammatico8 est; aliis Thessalicae, aliis Boeoticae dia- 
lecto eum tribuentibus 4 ); qua diversitate sententiarum 
hoc saltern plane declarabant , se sane nihil omnino de 
eo scire. Si vero in antiquissiroa forma pluralium F 
vel f- locum habebat, vix dubitare licet, quin eadem li- 
tera in singularibus eundem quoque locum usurpaverit: 
neque difficile est rationem reddere istius /; cum enim 
punctum literae obsoletae locum obtinuisset, usui ac 



i) Lanzi ib. p. 259. 

2) Mostel. Act. 1. S. 1. v. 17. 

3) Eustath. p. 173. 

4) at Sid rov 010 ysvixal , xard filv tovs ciV.ois GsTTaltxat st- 
ow tv Se rot* *JhtUn*Q xai 'iloodvjfjov Boiojtvjv qrf\ 
;A<yrr^c. Eustatb. p. z4o. 



consuetudini grammaticorum consentaneum erat, id in 
iota miitari: nam litera ista omnium hiatuum commo- 
dum ac solenne supplementum erat, quod in compluri- 
bus postea videbimus. 

§. cm. 

Antiquissimam itaque formam AOTOFO fuisse nul- 
lus dubito: quae obsoleta, etin AOTO-O, AOroO y et 
AOrO Tpaullatim contracta, AOFOIO demum fiebat 
grammaticorum aut rhapsodorum commends 5 ut justam 
versuum mensuram quocunque modo compleret. Vi 
metrica digammatis AOTOFO penultimam syllabam an- 
cipitem habuisse debuerit; atque ita metro claudicanti 
in 'IXLqv nQonuQQi&ev x ), dvexpiov mccpavoto 2 ), 'Aoxlr}- 
Tilov dvo noudt 3 ), AioXov xIutcc daj^iara 4 ), leniter ac fa- 
cile subventum est , restituta antiqua nominum ortho- 
graphia F/AF/OFO , 'ANETIZIOFO, ' AZKAHIIIOFO, 
etc. Syllaba OI, in Homericis non interpolatis, 
semper et ubique longa est: at OIO in secundo casu 
nusquam occurrit , nisi ubi penultima primum in pede 
locum obtinet, et ultima tarn positione quam natura 
brevis est; unde constare puto, penultimam earn natura 
quoque brevem, tono tantum et impetu pronunciandi, 
certis quibusdam locis totiesproductam esse; atque ideo 
aliam habuisse formam insermone antiquo. Rarissimere- 
centiores, etiam Alexandrini, hanc terminationem ad- 
mittunt, ubi ultima syllaba positione longa fit: Apollo- 



1) Iliad. <p. 104. 

2) lb. O. 554. 

3) lb. B. 73i • 

4) Odyss. K.60, 



9 2 



niu8 tafnen Rhodius Avxovq'/oio &oaav$ vlog habet; et 
alia fortasse exempla sedulo quaerenti eruere liceret. 

Argon. B. 118. 

§. CIV. 
Patronymicorum ac nominum, quae e verbis for- 
mata sunt, terminationes in A2, A t.\.HZ unas et eas- 
dem ab origine fuisse puto, atque consaetudine tantum 
ac vario hominum usu in diversas abiisse. Eorum ca- 
sus secundos item, inA02etEOZ, AOetEO* contra- 
ctos postea in OHetOT, omnesab una antiquissima for- 
ma AFOZ varie mutatos esse arbitror: quamvis omnes' 
praeter OTJZ ct C>r locum in Homericis carminibus ha- 
buerint. 

§. cv. 

Nomina in evg vel iiFJT desinentia omnes casus obli- 
quos constanter ex ordine, ut ab origine forraata erant, 
in Homericis retinuisse videntur; neque contractio nisi 
in tertio plurali usquam occurrit. Schema declinationis 
antiquae et Homericae fuisse credo : 



s. 


D. 


P. 




EFS 

EF02 


:EFE 


iLFES 
: SF&N 




EFl 


a EFOIN : 


EFEZ1 


: EFII 


EFA 




ETA2 




ef 




EFEZ 





Quod tamen e virorum doctorum conjecturis tan- 
tum, et ratione quadam grammatica , consequuti su- 
mus; haud enim scintillam lucis vel Italorum dialecti 
vel Graecorum monumenta praebent. Maximi autem 
momenii est literas E et T in hujusmodi vocabuli6 nus- 
quam diaeresi separari ; quod vix non aliquo evenirepo- 
tuisset , si ambae ab origine vocales fuissent. 



95 

Quarti casus contracti unjcum est exemplum 
ZETN in Aeschrionis Samii epigrammate usurpatum x ), 
atque 6ic restituta forma antiquiore A2EFN e A2EFAN 
eo mo do, quo HAP IN e TI API A AN contrahi ostendi- 
mus, contracta, in 1L 6* 206. jfc 256. et 42. 35i. Omni- 
no rescribendum pro ZMN; quod, elisa vocali in fine 
versus dactylici hexametri, seu, ut grammatici malue- 
runt, divisa syllaba finali, ita ut JV* ad versus sequen- 
tis initium transferretur , in iis locis tantummodo extat, 
et alioqui a carminis heroici indole prorsus alienum esse 
videtur. 

$. C% 

Ex his nominibus formata sunt patronymica in 
EFIAH2 vel EFIAA2, vulgo iidfjg ct aLdas; at solute 
semper «ara didaraaiv apud Pindarum et alios Aeolicos 
Doricosve poetas antiquiores a ), qui digammain carmi- 
nibus sonuisse videntur. 

§. CVII. 

Nomina autem in T£ et T antiquissimis temporibus 
casus secundos in tFOZ habuisse, e reliquiis veteris La- 
tini certissime constat; inter quas PECUVA pro vulgato 
PECUA in quarto casu, et QUESTUVIS ac FRUCTUVIS 
pro QUAESTIBUS ac FRUCTIBUS in tertio vel sexto 
plurali occurrunt 3 ); figura enim antiquissima tov vau 
vel digammatis apud Italos et Italiotas Vet E fuit 4); at- 



1) Apud Athenaeum VIII. p. 335. Brunck. Analect. T. I. pag. 
189. Gaisford in Hephaest, p. 255. 

2) Eustatli, p. 21 et 28. 

3) Lanzi Vol. I. p. 316 et 322. 

4) Sic in Veliensium minimis et Tabulis Heracleensibus. 



9* 

que usus rov B pro ea litem inter Lacones 6olennis , ne- 
que infrequens apud Latinos et alios Italiae antiquae 
populos. 

§. cviii. 

Hac ratione to B in tertiis casibus pronominum 
SIBI, TIBI, NOBIS, VOBIS, etc. locum habuit; dura 
in MIHI spiritus asper eodem modo, extruso nempe di- 
gammate , eundem locum obtinebat 5 quod in vocabu- 
lis Graecis etiam, dialecto 11011 mutata, saepe accidisse 
videbimus. Sic quoque adverbium relativum loci vel 
temporis UBI ex antiquissima forma tertii casus prono- 
minis relativi [&FI, postea \£ll, effictum est In usu 
pronominum to Oq uptl n^oraATiAov too 'O Our t oog ou- 
dtnoxe Ti&r,atv , ut recte monuit Atbenaeus : at non ae- 
que verum est quod adjecit Deipno6ophista , Toupna- 
).lv da avri rou Og vtiotolxtixov nctQaXafiflmPii 10 ttqoiuxti- 
xov c O * ) : nusquam enim istud 6 pro iff nisi in locis cor- 
rupts vel interpolatis occurrit. 

§. CIX. 

Vocales itidem / et T inter se commutabiles erant 
tarn in antiquissimis quam in recentioribus dialectis; 
quo evenit, ut in Etruscis inscriptionibus idem nomen 
promiscue EELUA atque EELIA scriptum sit 2 ); Attici 
praeterea ES12 pro TOS vel TF02 substituebant in de- 
clinatione nominum in T2" desincntium , et iyzi'ktatj pro 
tyZ&vog scribebant 3 ); atque inde declinationem com- 



1) L. XI. C. LXXXIY. ed. Sckweigh, 

2) Lanzi Vol. I. p. 257. not. 4. 
5) Eustath. p. 1240. 1. 15. 



munem in EOS, ut TIEAEKT2, UEAEKE02, 0£T2\ 

0£E02\ ortam es6e puto ; nam earundem literarum com- 
mutationem in Etrusca lingua modo observavimus : at 
seriorem elegantiam sapit potius quam severam ratio- 
nera grammaticam Homerici sermonis. Digamma ni r 
hilominus in hujusmodi nominibus exolevisse ppetae ae- 
tate videtur; penultima enim in secundo casu semper 
corripitur; ac nonnunquam ultima item in quarto. 

§. ex. 

Sin autem adjectiva masculina in X2 secundum 
casum in lOZ desinentem habuerunt, feminina eorum 
in TIA desiisse debuissent; neque dubito, quin vulgata 
terminatio EIA> EA etEH, aut ex Attica elegantia orta 
fiit, aut ab altera forma masculina in 112 desinente 
fiuxerit. 

§. CXI. 

In Homericis A OPT, rONT, etc. penultimam sem- 
per brevem in recto, et semper longam in obliquis casi- 
bus habent, metathesi, ut grammatici dicunt, tuv T; 
ita ut AOPT02 factum sit A07F02; TONT02, TOT- 
NOZi etc. x ) In Latinis autem, etiamsi metathesin 
istam nemo unquam somniaverit, eadem syllaba eodem 
modo obliquis casibus producta est; ita ut GENU 
priore brevi, factum sit GENUA diaovlXv.pm priore lon- 
ga; quod ex antiqua forma GENUVA contractum esse, 
exemplis PECUVA et PECUA jampridem citatis con- 



l) JOTP02 fitv TtQovnaQXEv to JOPT' «fe yaQ TONT FO- 
NT02, r.al uera&iosi, TOTN02, ovw xal JOPT JOPT02 
JOTP02. Eustath. p. 1606. 1, 62. 



9$ 

stare puto; ideoque syllabam pfoduci vi diiorum conso- 
nantiumNV, et vocabulum recte scribi GENVA. De- 
clinationem ac contractionem parem fuisse in Graecis 
rONT, AOPT, etc. nemo sanus , credo, negabit; at- 
que ideo syllabam priorem , quae natura brevis in inte- 
gris casuum formis A0PTF02:, A0P7FI, etc. foret, 
positione longa in contractis AOPFQ2, AOPFf, etc. 
fieri. Ita denique vera et antiqua forma, quam, cam 
jampridem, ratione grammatica tantum, assequutus es- 
sem, irridebant critici, certissima auctoritate et analo- 
gia veteris Latini ab acutissimo Lanzio eruti et expositi, 
confirmata stabilitaque est. Similem contractionem in no- 
minibus Etruscis, ut GAXAVEJLpio toAXA'WElL, 
ejusdem vfri docti thesaurus locupletissimus veterum 
sermonum Italiae exhibet 2 ). 

§. CXII. 

Nominum in S12 et SI desinentium baud aliam fuis- 
se declinationem, sed ex £12 fieri OFOZ, OF/, OFA t 
etc., e Latinis BOS, BOVIS, BOVI, etc. probabili sal- 
tern ratione colligere liceret, si litera S2 in omnibus lon- 
ga facta esset usu ac consuetudine tantum loquendi: at- 
tamen baud paucis ex aliarum literarum elisione earn 
productam esse constat; et, cum nesciamus in quibus- 
dam quaenam eae fuissent, antiquam eorum formam, 
vel recti vel obliquorum casuum , nullo modo scire pos- 
sumus. Nonnulli veterum grammaticorum MJN&N02, 
M1X&NI, MI^SINA, etc. scribebant pro 3I/M2(j2\ 
M1NQI, MIN&A 2 ) , qua ratione vel auctoritate, non 

1) Vol. II. p. 239. etc. 

2) Vide Heyne in supplend.inll. A T . 520.SCI10L Ven. A. in VL.B. 

262. 



97 
liquet ; atque in riominibus propriis raro aliquid certi ex 
analogia statuendum est, cum e vario ac diverso diver- 
earum gentium usu ac consuetudine loquendi diversis 
modfs eiHcta et contracta sint. Cretensium forte diale- 
cto nomen MINSIZ fuit, quod aliis MINQN fuerit: 
utrumque enim ex antiquiore participii forma, in Lati- 
nis asservata,, MINON2 pari ratione effingi licuisset. In 
hujusmodi nominum flexione literam excidisse , quivis 
facile dixerit; sed quaenam litera fuerit, vix ariolari au- 
sim. Inter haec nomina autem in £12 desinentia haud 
recipienda sunt ®S12 - J2 TV 2 , XP&2 -. XP& T02, 
etc. e &OA2 - &OATOH, XPOA2 - XPOAT02, etc. 
contracta; neque &S12, lumen, quod a &AF02 con- 
tractual est ; neque in Homericis alia quam haec plena 
et antiqua forma occurrit, \HP£IE in iisdem secundam 
syllabam in casibus obliquis ubique productam habet, at 
in Pindaricis correptam esse aliquoties versus antithe- 
tici , si qua est eorum auctoritas , plane demonstrant *) ; 
et digamma locum habuisse, mediis etiam vocabulis , in 
veterura Thebanorum sermone, ex eorum nummis cer* 
tissime constat. 

§. CXIII. 

Pronomina linguae veterid Latinae digamma in obli- 
quis casibus admisisse supra ostendimus; et, cum pos- 
sessiva ex obliquis positivorum casibus efformata sint, 
necesse est id in iis quoque locum habuisse. SicinOsco- 
rnra vel Campanorum sermone semibarbaro SVLE-)S, 
i. e. 'SUVE1S, et antiquo Latino SVVIS pro SUIS, in ti- 



a) Vide Pyth. I. 103. Ill, 13. IV* 102. 354. Nem. iy. 47. 
VIII. 6a. 

G 



93 

tulis inscripta observavit Lanzius; atque praeterea in lin- 
gua Osca EEST-JRi, i. e. VESTJRI, etEVEBjS, i. e. 
VUEBIS, pro VESTRI et VOBIS x ). 

§. CXIV. 

In eadem antiquissima lingua secundus casus plu- 
ralis TDJ8ADAKACVM, i. e. TRIPHARACAVUM , oc- 
currit; quod dialecto ac literis vetustissimis Graecia 
TPI<PAPAKAF(JN fuisset: unde, in dialectis recentio- 
libus, terminationes ejusdem casus ttkEStS , fZXetAX, 
varia contiactione , slcut usus quotidianus , diversus in 
diversis locis, sermonem immutaverat, emctae sunt. 

<). CXV. 

Homericis autem tcmporibus digamma e secundia 
ac tertiis casibus singularibus nominuni feminarum in A 
vel H desinentium jaradudum exciderat; ita ut termi- 
nationes monosyllabae factae essent. 

g. CXVI. 

Syllaba ista finalis, quam qi paragogicum appellant 
grammatici, locum tov Fj intertio casu occupasse vide- 
tur; ita ut ZTPA'W&T, BJHOI, etc. antiquiore 6Cii- 
ptura forent 2TPATOFI, BIHFl t etc. etiara istud 0/ 
secundi perinde ac tertii casus vice jamdudum fungere- 
tur. In tabula Eugubiana Latina syllaba FI eundem lo- 
cum obtinet; atque in hac tabula signum illud F di- 
gammatis Graeci potestatem habet, non Romanae istius 



1) Vol. I. p. 547 — g. Oaci, sicut Etrusci, a dextra sinistror- 
tum scribcbant : sed quoniam veteium usus in hac re parum 
constans erat, ordincm notiun tt usitatum in omnibus 
xecepi. 



99 
literae F ; quam ea aetate ita invaluis^e haud verisimile 
est l ). In ejusmodi vocabulis tamen iota subscriptum 
duntaxat penultima abolere ausim • nam pir^i, e duplici 
modo scribendi ortum esse vix dubitare licet. De 
"OXES0I , *OPES0I, etc. diversae fuerunt grammati- 
corum veterum opiniones ; cum hi pro tertio casu plurali 
xar iniv&toiv zou 0, illi pro secundo singulari ttatoi 
cvyxoniqv tov O , adjecta syllaba 01, habuerint. Vereor 
tamen, ne tertius ille casus locum in sententia tueri ubi- 
que possit, ita ut pro altero S consuetudine loquendi 
usurpatum esse videatur. V. Hort. Adon. in v. o^tvyi, 

§. CXVII. 

In Argi vorum 'ar Cretensium veterum dialectis par- 
ticipia verborum in HMI, etc. desinentiuni, quae vul- 
go in EIS desinunt, in ENS desinebant; atque ita in 
Ilomericorum carminum exemplaribus nonnullis anti- 
quis scripta esse , Heraclides , grammaticorum veterum 
inter doctissimos, memoriae prodidit 2 ). Ab omnibus 
tamen libris, tarn manuscript's quam impressis, con- 
junctio ista literarum NS 9 a qua abhorrebant delicatu- 
lae aures recentiorum, exulat; tametsi veram atque an- 
tiquissimam formam participiorum earn constituisse, 
turn linguae Latinae auctoritas , turn ratio grammatica 
in declinatione certissime demonstrat: secundi enim ca- 
sus in ENTOS, ANTOS et ONTOS desinentes ab an- 
tiquis nominativis in ENS, ANS et ONS justa ac re- 
cta analogia deducti sunt. 



l ) Lanzi VoL I. p. 277. 

a) Apud EusutU. p. xji6. 1. 24, 

Gs 



100 

§. CXVIII. 
Apocope nihilominus xov 2 } Homericis etiam tem- 
poribus, haud infrequens fuisse videtur; ita ut TT- 
HTS2N, TTVP&N, etc. eo quoque saeculo, pro antiquio* 
ribus TTTIT0X2, TTW0N2, etc. hominum usu inva- 
lescere potuissent: atqui non dubitandum est, quin 
TTVAN2, TT09EN2, etc. in TT*PA£, TT&9EI2 
etc. emollita sint posterorum elegantia; quae in diale- 
Ctis aQxaionQtnfGTaTcuQ et codicibua praestantioribus (Ar- 
givis fortasse et Creticisj nondum, sub Lagidum impe- 
rio, locum obtinuerat. Audacter igitur hi archaismi 
carminibu8 restituendi sunt. Cum feminina horum par- 
ticipiorum et adjectivorum imparisyllabica vel augmen* 
tata sint, vix dubitandum est, quin e casibus pbliquis 
masculinorum emcta sint ; atque ea ratione pronuncian- 
da ac scribenda, prisco more TTI12ANT2A, 7T~ 
09ENT2A, TIAXT2A, etc. e TTII2ANTE21 ', TT- 
&9ENTE2A, TIANTE2A, etc. contracta pro vulgaris 
TvipuGot, xvtp&iiaa, Tiuoctj etc. In adverbiis sibilum fina- 
lemsaepe amputatum esse observatEustathiua: zo & £«- 
fiddt, tort fxiv tog to 'iot.Xu.-Ai' dvvaxai di xal due xo\j 2 
yQayta&at, XAMAAI2, cog U0AAAKI2' ovrat di xul 
AH0AKI2, AH9AKI, xul AT9I2, AT6L p. 1879. 1. 
53. Sic *ANT1KPT2 et 'AXTIKPT, atque eadem ra- 
tione credo 'A2TI0TAI2, *ErPHlX)PTI2, etc. rescri- 
benda esse pro *J2H0TAI $ ^ETPHTOPTI, etc. quories 
6yllaba ultima, sine alia causa, producta sit. 

§. CXIX. 

Si Menandri et Philemonis reliquiarum emendatori 
celeberrimo credere libet, participia masciilina ultimam 
aliquaruio corripiunt, ut a«$ ocvoi hie (Alenandri 'Ino- 



101 

(Sol. JFV. 9. p. 78.) pro anapaesto haberi possit , atque 
ha fieri in dialecto Dorica tradidit Corinthi episcopus 
S. CXLIX. Vix tamen ipsi Aristarcho sic decernenti as* 
©entire potuerim, etiamsi, quid comicis Atticis vel buco- 
licis serioris aevi in re metrica licuerit , ne ariolari qui- 
dem ausim. Dawesii autem inscitiam atque temerita- 
tem in digammate pro N inculcando his participiis, 
itemque tertiis personis pluralibus verborum, et tertiis 
casibus nominum et participiorum in SIN desinentium, 
faeilius esset irrisui exponere: at quae verasint, osten- 
dere ac stabilire praestat, ut contraria sua sponte xuant, 

J. CXX* 

Horum nominum ac participiorum casus tertii plu-^ 
rales, quamquam anomali quodammodo in dialecto 
communi esse videantur, justa tamen et recta ratione 
grammatica efHcti sunt : cum enim secundus casus in 
NTSIN desinat, tertius in NTEZI vel NTA2I desinere 
debuit; quod paullatim contractum, in NT2I, N2JI et 
2/abiit; ita ut 7L^A'7!iE27rleretprimum TIANT2I, dein- 
ae IIAN2I ac postremo UASIv TTIITQNTE2I, TT- 
HTONT2I, TTTITONZI et TTIITOTSIl [TT&0EN- 
TE2I,. TTfpBENTSI et TTQSEN2I et TT&eJ2I2f % 
etc. etc. 

ff. cxxr. 

Litera 2, sicut aliae liquidae, A, M, N et P, saepe 
producta vel duplicata est in pronunciando ; atque cum 
Graeci rationem scribendi consuetudini loquendi 
semper accommodarent, unaquaeque gens suae ae- 
tatis civitatisque modum pronunciandi in scribendo 
exhibebat; e quo diversae dialecti paullatim formas di- 



10£ 



versas accipiebant. Hinc in tabula Heracleensi casus 
tertius pluralis participii T1010NTAZZ1 et TLPAZZOX- 
TAZ2I est; ac vase fictili elegantissimi opens, eadem 
regione defosso, vocabulum 2SOOZZ inscriptum le- 
gimus, 

§. CXXIT. 

Saepe in carminibus hie casus tertius pennltimam 
longam habet; atque X turn duplici signo expriraitur, 
contra rationem grammaticam, credo; et certe contra 
morem in aliis observatum; inecriptionibus enim anti- 
quis, si liquidum in ultima vel penultima ex U6u pro- 
nunciandi geminatum sit, perinde geminatur in initiali; 
ideoque in carminibus, si nA\7'/;i2/ , AIAHTBZ2T y 
etc. retineamus, AE AAO&OX, AE MMETJl, etc. pro 
vulgaris di loyov, dt fnyce, etc. recipere debemus. 
Omnia veterum monumenta Constantinopolitano ioipe- 
rio antcriora alrerutrum unice exhibent; et, sive hoc, 
sive illud praetuleris , optimorum temporum exemplis 
confirmare poteris. Constantia autero , vel in comma- 
tandis vel in geminandis, more vererum, Uteris, omni- 
noexpetenda edt; quae librariisConstantinopoIitanis pri- 
mum neglecta , tunc tandem Homericis carminibus re- 
stituitur, eo modo, quem antiquissimum ac verissi- 
mum, re diu accurateque investigata, puto. 

§. CXXIII. 

Minus inconstantiae est, at nonnihil tamen, in ge- 
ininatione consonantium A', 77, 7'; nam hae quoqueictu 
et emphasi pronunciandi duplicabantur, prima saltern 
pedis syllaba, ut onnojg , urn, etc.; quae rationc gram- 
matica IOIISZZ, lOTI , etc. scribenda sunt. B, r, J 



lo3 

autera , consonantes primariae , e quibus II, K, T, du-' 
riore et acriore quodam articulationis impetu, orta esse 
videntur, nunquam e tono vel emphasi duplicantur; ne- 
que dubito, omnia ejusmodi exempla, quae viri docti 
in carminibus Homericis se vidisse credunt, me facile 
monstraturum , aut menda et corruptelas esse , aut mo- 
dos loquencli antiquos et obsoletos male intellectos. 

§. CXXIV. 

In omnes casus vel nominum vel participiorum in 
'ANZ vel &N desinentium mos et consuetudo contra- 
hendi paullatim et comprimendi terminationes, in Ho- 
mericis jamdudum temporibus, sensim ac pedetentim 
irrepserat: qua fit, ut casus hi aliquoties sine litera Tet 
penultima correpta sint; ut MEAAN02, MEAANA*); 
2APIIHAON02 :ONI :ONA, etc. etc. in nonnullis 
autem vocalis in penultima, consonante ejecta, pro- 
ducta est; ut in KPONIQNOS iQJSl :SZNA, etc.; quod 
maxime Homericum est, ut in sequentibus videbimus. 
Quartus casus pluralis omnium nominum naturalem ac 
vetustissimam terminationem in A2 habuisse videtur; 
ita ut vulgatum illud AOTOTZ e contractione antiquio- 
ris formae AOTOFA2 ortum esse credam ; atque ideo 
AOrOFE in Homericis scribendum. Aeoles recentioreo, 
pro veterum Fet posterorum T, /adhibebant, ettertium 
et quartum casum iisdem literis scribebant^ 



i) slXeixf/iv t'yjt rov t. rotovtov xa.l to TAAA-~ 

NO 2 ano rov TAAA2, xal vo ME A A NO 2 Ix rov MEAA2. 
iXldirst ydg to T, ok SrjXot ro TAAANTAT02 xal to TA~ 
AANTEPON Eustath. p. 622. init. 



§. exxv. 

A doctissimo Polybii editore nupcr observatum est, 
to r e nominibus terminationem in ITa habentibus sae- 
peexcidisse; ita«t MHN/rZ, MHNJ-; 2AAIHTZ, 
£AAW2\ ZAAIIirKTHZ, 2AATL1KTHE scriptura 
sit. Sed antiquo modo scribendi horum nominum ter- 
minatio fait iNF£ et INrTH2\ et litera, quae excidit, 
jV, non r: atque ita omnibus ejusmodi evenisse credo, 
quae in ca&ibns obliquis penultimam Ionian: habent; 
ut MA2TJ2 -ITOZi etc. quae, in Homericis saltern, 
scribi debuerant MA2TIXTZ ilxrOZ, etc. 

§. CXXVI. 

Ubi litera finalis S e K2, non e T2 conflata sit, et 
penultima in casibus obliquis producatur , ut in KJI- 
PTK2 \TK02; &OINIK2 '.IK02; etc., litera T exci- 
disse videtur ; atque eadem ratione, qua JSTK2, AT- 
KT02, KJIPTKZ \TKTOZ', WOJNIK2 .IKTOS, etc. 
fuisse ; quae restituenda etiam Homericis facile dicerem, 
nisi constaiet, linguam veterem jam olim emolliri coe- 
ptam esse elidenuo consonas durioreeet producendoante- 
cedentesaut subsequentes vocals. Sic *OPXI2 '- ISOS, 
et Doricum 'OPX1Z : 1X02 ex antiquiore 'OPNIX2 
- IXG02 facta esse, dicersa loquendi consuetudine , vix 
dubitare licet; unde ultima in casu recto, et penultima 
in obliquis j semper longa est. 

<J. CXXVIL 

Verborum tertia persona pluralis, quae vulgo in 
OTZI desinit, et quam Dawesius , contra omnem ratio- 
nera grammaticam et auctoritatem veterura, in OF2I 
quondam desiisse censuit, formam naturalem et anti- 



10J 

quam conservasse videtur in Aeolica ac Dorica dialecto, 
quae est ONTI— TTTITON TI — quod in aliis dialectis, 
paullatim contractum et emollitum, fiebat ON2I, SIZ1 
et OT2I, eo modo quo tertius casus participiorum. Ita 
etiam tertia persona verborum in MI ex ANTI, ENTI 
etTiVTI, in All, EJ2I et T^/abiit'}; itidemque 
temporibus praeteritis perfectis aliorum verborum ter- 
minatio antiqua ANTI in A21 mutata est; cujus penul- 
tima ob earn causam semper producta est. Egregie hal- 
lucinatus est clarissimus Lennep, breves fuisse olim, 
cum simplicibus literarum signis scriptae essent, penul- 
timas harum personarum , atque ita formas recentiores, 
EI1I , A2JIet OTZI e thematibus productioribus EEMI, 
A AM I et OSl deductas esse 2 ). Neque felicius vir exi- 
mius futura &ANESI, 2TLEPE& , TEMESl, etc. ab Io- 
nibus antiquis pro antiquioribus &ANE2Q XJIEPEUSI, 
TEME2SI, etc. a verbis puris &ANE&, 2ILEPE&, 
TEMESl , etc. formata esse voluit 3 ) : nam pueris etiam 
notum esse debuit, penultimas futuri et aoristi primi a 
thematibus in J2 puro dennentibus, in omnibus omnium 
temporum et gentium dialectis, productas esse, eoquod 
antiquissimae terminationes eorum essent ESSl et E2A 9 
non ZSZ et2A-—TTIITEi:Sl et 'ETTIITEZA contracts 
in zvipco et tzv\pa$ atque eadem porro ratione BOAEZSl 
—'EBOAE2A, et &IAEE2& et E&IAEE2A, contracta in 
po<ao(o } *p6aGct , ydiicQ) , iylXfiocc , etc. ; nee non a recen- 
tioribus, Atticis praesertim, in /?wow, tfiwoa, etc. Vis 



a. ) ukrrsQ «t rov TI9EA2I, TIQEI2I, ovto)? aal t* rov 'EJ2I, 
EI2I. Scliol. Ven. in .11. ji* 566, lataxuf/*Q9 in omnia gr as- 



satus est. 
a) Analog. C. IX 
3) Ibid. C. IV. 



1 06 

meitrica binarum literarum haud minus imminuta mane- 
bat, cum simplici aut ipdol , quam cum duplici aut *ni- 
Gi'jfio) signo scriberetur : quod mirum est virum egre- 
gium non percepisse, cum in omni fere vocali longa 
lateat aut brevis absorpta, aut epiritus, aut consona 
suppressa. 

<j. CXXVIII. 

In vetustissima tessera kospitali Musei Borgiani Ve- 
letris tertia persona singularis v T erbi^//J/2il'//, quaevulgo 
AIASlSIest, AIAOTJ, i. e. AUfi. 77, inscripta est ; qua an- 
tiquissimam formamejusdem personae in aliis verbis per- 
cepisse mihi videor: nequedubito, quin Latina termi- 
natio it) ET atque Graeca in EI ex obsoleta in ETI \ wri- 
ter erTictae sint; altera, amputato /, altera eliso 7': ita 
utDOCET, AOKEET, et AOKEJ perinde e AOKEETI 
contractasint; quemadmodum varius et quotidianususus 
in omnibus fere linguis plus minusve effecit. , Jones'* 
grammatici dicunt, ,,addunt syllabam 21 tertiis per- 
sonis singularibus modi subjunctivi, ut Ti7rrj;<7* pro 
runty." At syllaba ejusmodi adscititia ne in ullo quidem 
unquam hominum sermone locum babuit, et Ionica ilia 
forma, nisi quod 7' in J^mutatum sit, et / male subscri- 
ption, justa ac naturalis est, TTIITIITI — TTTITJIJ;/; 
atque ejecta consona, et / finali in mutum converso, 
TTTITHL In vulgatis Homericorum exemplaribus syl- 
laba ista paragogica tertiis personis singularibus optativi 
verborum in MI nonnunquam adjuncta est, saltern si 
librarii et grammatici recentiores dop\ et Stftjm pro Atticis 
optativi formis kabuerint: sed in priori aut scribendum 
est 01 pro 10, aut iota subscriptum ab omega ad eta trans- 
ferendum, et in posteriori omnino abolendum, ita ut 



conjunctivi fiarit formae antiquioris ASISI e primitiva 
AOFSl contractae ; nam syllaba ista ab optativi ratione 
et indole prorsus aliena est. 

§. CXXIX. 

Cum, quisnam fuerit Homericus pronunciandi aut 
scribendi mos, rw T, an tw 2*, nemo nunc scire pOtue- 
rit, priorem praetuli, non tarn quod antiquior esset, 
quam quod tvffotvoTfQog , et carminis majestati magis 
congruus. Harum literarum inter se invicem commu- 
tatio perfacilis ac solennis , in linguarum omnium pro- 
nunciation, et olim fuit et adhuc est; ejusdem enim 
sunt organic ut ita dicam; cum T consonans dentalis 
sit , atque £ et S spiritus dentales modis diversis pro- 
nunciati; unde Lacones sonum zov JS tw & tribuerunt; 
et hac nostra aetate omnes quasi Europae gentes sylla- 
bam TI tanquam SI pronunciant, quoties vocalis in eo- 
dem vocabulo earn excipit. 

§. cxxx. 

Aliarum consonantium iUsiipetg in initiis etiam ver*- 
borum haud infrequentes sunt; ut in E1BSI pro AEI- 
B&, EPI pro ILEPI, I A pro MIA, etc. quorum in 
nonnullis restituenda est litera initialis, ut versus suum 
metrum habeat; quod, quoties ita visum est, fecimus. 
Constans tamen haec tXKu-^iq in quibusdam , et jam ante 
Homerica tempora usu communi recepta esse videtnr; 
ut in \ T102, etc. Etrusca enim lingua |- TIA est 8VIA 
et rVIA 1 ), i. a. 0TIA et nil A, quas formas antiquissi- 
mas esse, verbum JFSl vel 0TISZ, a quo deductae sunt, 
testis idoneus est. Ab eadem radice est Latina vox 



1) Lanzi Vol. IT. p. 502. etc. 375. etc. 



io8 

PUER; quae solita commutatione inter sese rov P et to J 
C vel K, in Etruscis est CFED, i. e. CWER x ) ; quo an- 
tiquissimam formam Graeci vocabuli KOIPOZ videre 
hcet, quae sine dubio KTFEPO 2, KlFPOS et postea 
KOFP02 erat, 

§. CXXXI. 

In omnibus Graecorum dialectis praeter 'Atticam K 
pro II usurp atum est in Ilfi, TLH , IIOTE, etc.; ac 
formae horum vocabulorum in Latina lingua, QUO, 
QUA, QUOQUE, persuadere cuiquam forte potuerint, 
Graecos antiquissimos ita pronunciasse ac acripsisse : sed 
in lingua Osca et vetustissima Latina QUIDQUID est 
P1TPIT, etQUI, POI; quo verisimile videtur , Atticam 
in hac re scribendi consuetudinem (quod raro accidit) 
antiquissimam esse, atque idcrrco retinendam Home- 
ricis. 

§. CXXXIL 

In codice Venetiano antiquissimo subscriptum est 
iota adverbiis my, fiUUfc etc. ita ut jnj, &Ut|» etc. 6Cribe- 
rentur ubique; et in sermone Aeolico ac Dorico seriore 
HSl est not, *ENJfl , lidol, etc. quae formae antiquio- 
res 6unt e casu tertio pronominum et adjectivorum effi- 
ctae: nam, ut vir acutissimus I. HorneTooke jamdiu pla- 
num fecit, adverbia, praepositiones, conjunctiones et 
aliae ejusmodi voculae, nonnisi fragmenta et anoonu- 
cficcTu quaedam verborum ac nominum sunt. Restituen- 
dum igitur iota istud mutum putavimus, haud mi- 
nus adverbiis , quae e masculis et neutris nomi- 



2) Ibid. p. 550. 



io 9 

num et pronominum formis emcta sunt, quam 
quae e femininisj cum veterum sermoni haud minus 
Il&I, KATSII, i JNS2/ i etc. quam IIHI, 'AAAHf, 
etc. convenire viderentur. Haud alia ratione HAP AT, 
'THAI, etc. formata esse credo; quae ideo pro sermo- 
nis vetustissimi reliquiis, nori poetarum commentis, ha- 
benda esse censeo. Mutum aptius quam subscriptum 
iota id dictum esset: dum enim lingua Graeca viguit, 
et elegantior quaedam scribendi ars invaluit, adscribe- 
hatur , non subscribebatur vocali , e contra ctione di» 
phthongiproductae ; atque eo modo in hac nostra recen- 
fiione adhibendum erit* Strabonis aetate exolescere coe- 
perat, ita ut haud paucis Codieibus omnino defuerit, 
gravi detrimento linguae , cujus indoles ac ratio gram- 
matica idcirco dimcilior fiebat et obscurior, 

§. CXXXIIL 

Ut 77/2/ et IIHI e tertio casu pronominis, sic IIOT 
e 6ecundo ejusdem casu factum est; atque ideo pari ra- 
tione rescribendum tlOFo vel TlOO , prout metrum 
postulat. 

§. CXXX1V. 

Haud aliter adverbia in £12 desinentia e tertio casu 
plurali nominum ac pronominum formata esse videntur$ 
in tabula enim Eugubiana ItSl2 est f V> I; quod sermo- 
ne ac literi*Graecis redditum JT0/27neret. Cum tameti 
eermo in his tabulis rudis ac barbarus est, et scriptura 
parum constans, iota illud mutum Ta> SI adjungere sine 
validiore auctoritate mihi religio est. Alia adverbia e 
casibus quartis nominum ac pronominum formata sunt/ 
subaudita praepositione quadam. 



110 

§. cxxxv. 

Cum Etrusci veteres literas A et non haberent, 
ratio ipsa grammatica proximas potestate, quae T et V 
sunt, in earum locis postulabat; quod in nomine Dios- 
curorum alterius, Graece II0ATJETKII2, Etrusce 
FU^TUCE, satis apte evenit: at qua ratione A in A aut 
T in QU transient, ita ut OATZ1ETZ, ULYSSES; 
AAKPTMA, LACRUMA; TE QUE sint facta , ne con- 
jectura quidem ulla assequi valeo , tametsi haud antiquis- 
cima putem : cum enim Latinum UTI vel UT ex Graeco 
1 OTI plane connctumsit, et yYafliiieT« TE, mutatio- 
nem earn post UT ex I- OTI translatum evenisse oportet. 

§. CXXXVI. 

Neque minus difficile est rationcm reddere, qua La- 
tini veteres literis Bet DU in iibdem verbis atque, ut vi- 
detur, iisdem sonis significandis usi sint; ut in BEL- 
LUM, DUELLUM; BELLONA, DUELLONA; BILILS, 
DUILIUS , itemque VILIUS *); quod ultimum minus 
mirandum est, quoniam B et V consonans (quod item 
ac F Aeolicum) ambo literae labiales essent, atque inter 
se aflines; ita ut, in Lacooum dialecto, usus tov B pro 
JF solennis esset. Idem mos in Pamphyliae quoque civi- 
tatibus, atque apud alias fortasse gentes cum Doricas 
turn Aeolicas obtinuisse videtur 2 ); itemque inter Lati- 
nos etiam recentiores , sic ut LIVERTUS pro LIBER- 
TUS, BOTUM S0LB1T pro VOTUM SOLVIT, in 



a) Lanzi P. I. C. VII. S. 1. Osserv. IV. No. 5. et C. VTH- S. 1. 
No. 5 et 6. 

&) Heraclides apud Eustath. p. 1654, 1. £1. 



1 J i 

titulis sepulchralibus ac votivis, sub Caesarum impe- 
rio incisi8, satis testantur 3 )» 

§. CXXXVII. 
In omnibus linguis singula quaeque verba, quo ma- 
gis usu quotidiano in hominum colloquio vulgata et oon- 
trita sint, eo magis corruptelis obnoxia fiunt; ac faci- 
lius ab indole naturali et justa analogia uniuscujusqme 
sermonis detorquentur : quo fit, ut verbum illud, quo 
quisque primam notionem mentis ac conscientiam sui 
voce exprimit, apud omnes gentes maxime abnorme sitt^ 
et a communi conjugandi ratione latissime aberret. Ita, 
in nostra lingua Anglica, BE, AM, ART, IS, WAS, 
etc. nullo vinculo conjugations aut ratione afnnitatis 
invicem cohaerent : sed singula sparsa ac divulsa , 
a diversis quasi radicibus orta , videntur: et quan- 
quarn in linguis antiquis, praesertim Graeca et La* 
tina , analogia grammatica plenior haud paullo et accu- 
ratior sit, quam in nostris vulgaribus , nihilominus La- 
tinum verbum SUM tantum a Graeco EIMI distat, ut 
vix sibi quisquam persuadere possit, utrumque unum at- 
que idem esse; quo tamen nihil certius; nam antiquissi- 
ma forma erat 'E2& et terminatione in MI, *EZQMI\ e 
quo Etrueci, qui literam O nullam habebant, et I in E 
libenter mutabant, ESUME fecerunt; quod Latini soli- 
to brevitatis studio in SUM redegerunt, conservatis ni- 
hilominus vestigiis formae antiquioris in ESEM, ESE, 
etc. (sic enim veteres scribebant) 2 ) itemque in ERAM, 
ERO, etc., mutato tamen S in R, ut apud Latinos haud 



1) Torremuzz. iiv.cript. Sic. Class. VI- No. IV. Cor. yet. musei 

nostri. 
a) Lnnzi 1, i. 



113 

minus quam apud Laconea fieri solebar. Praeteritum 
autem perfectum FUI , quod veteres semper FUVI scri- 
bebant, haud ejusdem verbi est, sed ad Graecum 
&TF& pertinet. 

0. CXXXVIII. 

Futura ilia Graeca 'EZ20MM, 'ElSEAI, *EZ- 
SETMet *E22EITAfex antiquissima forma y E2Sl sunt: 
omne enim futurum natura desinit in E£Sl% nt omne 
praeteritum perfectum in EKA: sed duo modi contra- 
hendi fuerunt; unus, ejecta vocali, ut in TZ*P&, -:1E~S2, 
etc., quae fatura prima vocata sunt; alter, ejecta conso- 
nante> ut in TTITES2, yiETESl, postea in 7 I 
jlErSl contracta atque futura secunda appellata. Fu 
rum itaque passivum antiquissimum verbi 'E1S2 erat 
% ESESOMAl\ quod iUtiyn too E in tenia per=c 
2ETAI, atque xov 2 alteriua *E1 tl ficbat; e quo 

eolita contractione too EE in EI, et sibili in pronuiu i 
do productione, factum est monstrum istud poeticum 
'EZ2EITA/. 

§. c\ 

Forma in MI contracta fuisse videtur, Homericis 
€tiam temporibus, in *E£MJ et *EMMI (unde '£££/, 
'E2TI, 7.2 .7/ //A, etc.); et , ejecta consonante ac pro- 
ducta vocali, in 7/3// emollita, e quo 7///.V, 'MSN, 
7/.V, HA, 'EA, 7/V/X. etc. etc. variis contractioni- 
bus efficta sunt: semper enim in memoria tenendum ear, 
formas longissimas ac plenissimas in omnibus verbis an- 
.tiquissimas esse, neque ullam justam licentiam imrnu- 
tandi unquam fuisse in ullo hominum sermone, nisi 
quae in.contrahendo et emolliendo consisteret, atque ea 



n3 

non pro arbitrio cujuscunque usurpata, ee.d usu ac con, 
suetudine loquendi paullatim introducta: neque nova 
ilia et augmentata themata, quae aut ex augmentatis 
quorumdam temporum formis conficta sunt, aut modurn 
aliquem vel consuetudinem generalem actionis adjuncto 
aliquo exprimunt, sicut verba in : IZR , :I£K£l, etc. in 
hanc legem peccant; compositorum enim numero ha- 
benda sunt, ut singula exempla facile probabunt. 

6. CXL. 
Sed quoniam verborum analogia , qua antiquae il- 
lae formae, a poetis tantum usurpatae, aut singulis dia- 
lectis propriae, ad certain aliquam rationem redigeren* 
tur, inter cruces graramaticorum semper fuit, haud a 
proposito alienum puto, praecipuas eorum eententias de 
hac re, e scholiis veteribus collectas et librariomm 
mendis aliqua ex parte saltern purgatas, in ordinem 
aliquem disponere, atque antequam plura disputavero, 
lectoris judicio submittere. 

§. CXLI. 

Itaque, ut a verbo diflicillimo, ac grammatico v£- 
terum subtilissimo et doctissimo exordiar: 

l. 'Joriov ore to 'EMMENAI o 'HQaxtetdfjQ ov 
xcctu ti}v doxouoctv To7g nXeiOGiv dxokov&tciv TtttQCtyCl , «A- 
lu nQomxQafojyovoav uvtov , ijyovv Tfjv EM GvXla^v CCJIO 
nupctfor/oi>Tog II ytvtodav (iovXsvcti gvgtoXij yccl dtnka~ 
<rta<j/t<(u, akkug nctya to ip Toig *ig ti)v 'Ifoudct ygcuptv. 
y»]<jt ydg o'uTwg ' piyiGTOv tmuvQiov iv af.iq}vg^tjTfjaet to-, 
vcav fituaTtyuav to Ti]vr/.uvru ntgiGnuGuv tu (jypccTcc, ots 
to aitaQt/ityciTOv dice ngojiagahiyovTog tov II XiytTcti* tu 
yap KTSl ntQianaTui, ore KTHMENAI to anaQifi(f«- 
tov it di tjv KTtt pvQviiv&g, KTEMENAI a* fa *«r« 

II 



*i4 

to 'ETPEMENJL ooto) xal *IASl, <i>IACI\\ <t>IAII- 
MENAI' xal X0JL1IEXAI xal (DPOXII.UEXAI' wA 
to 'AHMEJNAI vh (.laQivfjil tv} ASi TTtGiGncofitvo). dr t ).ov 
ovv, (fr,(jlv t o)g xal to IIMEXAI duo tov *fl ntoionoi- 
fnivov Tt ( g npmnjg auGuyictg , ov xal f t peropj TreoiGTiuTai, 
A&.iotI q.u(iiv 'EMMENAI' xcOoti Aioltig xal tv #*- 
(.tu<n to nQor/'/oujutiov H tov M tig E fiiTUTi-dtvTtg St- 
nXovoi t6 M. olov lLObUMl, I106LM3ir 0IAHM/, 
WAEMMK 

ovxovv 6 'IlgaxXtldf;g yulviTU* titiwg xul TO *EM- 
MENAI ano tov IIXAI ytitO'&ui tov 7iagaXr t yofit'pov rt") 
II' ov -Oifxu fiiv to SI j i, t { 'Q7.°h ntgionioutiwg' 

na oca auKog ft 'IIX uutcc to tjj/ASi. A;1)IAII\ ' XOSl, 
*ENOHN' xal tu bftota Aiwuxu. Eustath. p. 1-107. et & 
2. to di *IIA, xoivortgo* fd» tintlr , irgcuTOg dogi- 
atog tov '//()\ iniit , og '/mtnwg '/< ut~ 

Toy/, 7i.\, mot f# Jtoilm //ouy.l?id* i g liuOvlo'/H' iddt 
dt QVGTO\\l tVQfjtai xal EA, dty ov. xard xodaw, *II di'£<i 
tov X' ev to xowov xal nictuun'ov IJX tttru ? 
noXXd XoyoTtoap'joag Ilgaxltidrg i(md(f<x£i9 • og loiavra ttvm 
ntgl tiov ditilr t uuiiu)V yguqti. 

"lujvtg Tovg 7iagorp;iti'i'Org u:ro tojv avroj* aroijrffW 
ngoytoovrae ia7g pmgertg, oTov JAIIllX'EITIOX.AABUX 
HiOX. ovuog 'II xal 'EA 7«xw s -, ohv 'LI TOTE KOT- 
P02 EA' tntl xul tj 'ESZN utTw/t) dno tov E arjpjtrai* 
9 t ftd<iTr t Tcu dt, (ftjoi, to *EA tig A rttoaiOiuti"f- xal \fct- 
avijg *£trae fJOTtyff* xal 01 'EXh t vi^ovrtg di Iv EiXtxiu tv> 
fH TigoqtQOPTat,' Tag yap tig 42A XttfOXroag oiiTuvovg ,«*- 
To;ftts t)iov i:xl twit (j^uarcuv tig OX ntgutovo&ai ft,. 
roptvov x«ra X Q mn w -aqogojtioi , o7ov AABSIN *EAA- 
BOX, 0AE.QX 'E'VArOX, xul ra Suota, mvwol dno- 
PuXXovug to X xal petuTi&tmg ro /tuxooy O tig £ % 



n5 

A TTQoqtQQVTULj and tov AABSIN xal &Ar&N, *EAA- 
BA Xtyovztg xal 'E0ATA' xal tqUu di toiitojv nbjOvv^ 
zixd tig AN Xtjyovra It'yovGiv. 

6 ovv dno trig 'ESIN, qr}Gl, fUTOffig, \EA Xiycav av~ 

rl tov 'EON, d^iagxavH ojg d xal dno tov AABSIN 

EAABA q.ulr r kt'yet di, cog xal dvaXoywzSQov tov 'EA to 

HA' ylwGGijg ph dv Aavavrjg, xtl(.uvov de xal napu 

KaMif-iay**) ' ai yu.Q and ifuXovpivov E diovMafiOi fiiToyul 

to E fig H [KTccfadkovoiP iv Qt'maoi. Xtyev ds xal iq7]giv 

tlvuv tov 'EON jiuqu 'Akxaloj ' xal otl coansp &AEON-* 

T02 'E0ArON, APAM0NT02 'EAPAMON dmlsv- 

att zijg fiiio%i,xr}g h^yova?]g, ovtto xal ' E0NT02 'EON 

QtjTtov , xal ova EA' xal cog 'laxajregov f.iev to 'EON 9 

to 8t 'HON xoivdv ■ o&ev to '11E2 xal 'HE" to di *HON 

ITtl 71Q0)T0V 7TQO(TOJ710V i^UlQiOit, TOV 0\*HN yiViTUlt* c3 

6fi6(fOJvov 9 xazd XaXxidtlg, to 'HN 'EKE1N02* dq? ou 
AoiQtxug 'Holodog tqv to THZ A 'HN TPEI2 KE<I>A~ 
A A I. to dt toiovtov ' Hniodtiov 'HN noiei, (pyol, to '112 AN 
TTQOG&icszt, tov 2 xccl tov A. o 8)} xal ol t?j 'Aeiavfj X9 i0 ^ 
pivot pwttf tiovovgi, to 'E0TrON xal 'HA®ON> naQtv- 
Oian Tt"jg AN Gvllapug, 'E0TW2AN llyovxtg xccl 'llA~ 
002. AN' ovtu) 8t xal tu d/uoia* 

nccQctdidojGi, 8i avrdg xal oil * A^iGxaoyuoi to HN EA 
ftvtG&vu tlnov xaxd T^ttJGiv , dnoia Tig ylviiat x(t\ iv xu> 
*11NTAI 'EATA1 xal To7g dtioloig' xal iv tm 'A2TTA- 
rHN'AZTTAFEA, AlOMHAHN AIOMHAEA' xal 
iv tm "lUAHN 111AEA, xal To7g lomolg. Eustalh. p. 
1768 et 9. 

5. otv 81 'laxov iGTi to *E&N, v Alolixdv , i Jot- 
0*xov, ndvzfg yap uvtio xqmvtcii, 'H^axKddfjg fyQcapi nov, 
iv&a tyu xal otv org 'EA&SZN, 'EAQtJTSl, xccl rot opow, 
evT<»g 'EaN'EETfl* «(*l uvaloyy xgdau, 'EiTtl did 

II 2 



dup&oyyov, ojg 4jIAEIT&, TIAEITSl ' xul Aa>Qix<Zg 'HTSl' 
£o)Qitiq yu$ ovtbi [4£Ta7ioiov(Jc zug zoiovzug Tiarjuh/yovaagy 
to &IAEITSI Xul XOEITSZ, OIAIITSi xul XGIITfi k- 
'/ovteg. Eu8tath. p. l4ll. 1. 21. 

4. to fdp 'IIX uvzl zov ' ' JTIHXPON tt> ttqojzo) rzoog- 

OlTtOi 7TOQO(fVO)g t%H ZO A XUZU Gvyxont]v ZOV 'llOX, OTtlQ 
iazlv vnrjo/ov. to 6i zo'itov ttrg o'uzujg i'/iC XUZU TOV '// 
xltidov loyov I'yovTu ovzog' zo7g fig pQ*%v :uoctioiuti 
ilrct ovvuiOf&f7oi, i zoiorroi* zi'j'jmirjroiq ovxt'zt fifzovoia zoo 
JV t&riv* woze Iv zvt '//OX, *IIEZ, 'HE, xul acvaiototk 
'IIX, ovx 6(j0ojg i/u ij :i(j(jCituvQig zoc A. KOtrow 6c g»;- 
nt xul to \HXKEIh > ag 

I/SKEE izuig :. «pa- 

TUTixog fig X Tifouzovzui iv ioii<<j . on; 

izt'oai&i dt UfH 6 uizog xul zo A VEJ2 TT- 

P()\ , tj/QV* tXPtO'i tUOTXTCP, tig TO II QVVv o7o9 

AMI TTJ>()\ h 'J'.uiJt, ovxt'rc ovv i /#/;* 

o'vziog ovdi zo II fifzu zov A yguqt,Gfzai r ullu dr t kadti 

dtya zov N, xu\ o),uuivu to 'TUMP W zov LE 

dtjXovoif xul Oi y.uziOz\oiv 6 ooqog zoiavzrjw YQ*". 

i'azt, di xul iuJ.wg p(zxi zov A ro^aui to 'IIX Aqjqi- 
Xiog auu xul Antx< \ / /yuxii.fidtjv unov- 

■ru ovi uj' to 7iu(j q/ih EILl/JI xul EPPEI naga. pir 

To7g "Ivjoiv 7://.//;/:.\; BPPE1 u dtqd. 

Tf^tt'Ojutvtjg txuq uviolg fig ufiqt) zuvzu' nu^u 6f A(»[ ■ 
oiv , (dv zjj diukt'xzo) xul aoxuwi -Izzixol ypwizut. zcl toi- 
avza dvo EE fig IIX onuiof7za& • to yug EIL I J 
'EPPEEX, y EIIAFIXxul EPPJ1X W uizoU- •» wiwm 
tovtx) didozui> zi Pmlvit xazri zo 'EIIALJ 1IIX 

Acooixdig xul EPPEEX, EPPI/X a nog dim xal 'J 
JEV, 7upio7uo t uiiwg /<*Wo* did to tqv £>;iiaTog .uoroav^r 



U7 

ia t %v ; xaQtisTcav ry AwQMr} q&vrj xccl zdov 'Azzixoov* oT veil 
to AAMATEP Aooqixov ov qiiXovGb XaXtlv, cog yial uXXo&t> 
tdifiw&r) , 6z( zi ftccvftu TcgoxtiTUi, oog xal 6 tov xaopixov 
TTXovzog fhjfau. m iGztov, bzi, zo tigriptvov '/£ZV, tm zglzov 
fvr/.ov tiqog coTiov y. o 'AtXy.fidv *H2 Xtytt, fiizuX^fifiitrnvzov 
N tig £ AooQtxolg , cog 6 c J£ganXt!dr]g nccQccdldooGiv. Igtl dt 
avzov %QV<tig teal tsccgd rw @ovttoXiuaz>j ' cog scat iv too TIE- 
TtOIHKAMEN nccl AErOMEN nal T 7g o^oloig Toinov* 
gi to N elg 2 ol Awyitlg Xtyovztg TIETIOIHKAME2 y.ul 
%uXXa oooamoog, dqXovGiv ol %Qi]G(Xfiivoi: to dt tuxq *I£ai6d(p 
THS A 3 HN TPEIZ KE&AAAI dvzl tov ' HL AN Bom * 
xuov Xiytzai yXooGG^g tlvai, ov tPixd ()>)(iaza nXtj-dvvzwoTg 

QVOllOLGL OVVtzaZZOV, EuStatll. p. 1892. 1. 5<>* 

5. iGTiOP dt, oog ^IlQccKXildfjg iJpccQztlG&ab unoov to 

JJSTSl yQOUplL TOMXVTCI+ 

zd did tov 2 txrptooiitvot, nQOGTuxTixd xcci tig SI Xyyov- 
rcc nQuzixov t%ti zov SI to Q, ohv AETEZOQ , TLOIEI- 
~<9S2, xai zd (ipota. i]pctQTr { Tcci ovv to 'I2TSI, xcc&d wxl 
to 'E2TSI , ded tov T Xtyoptvu. votjztov dt\ q^Giv , i]{.wq~ 
h~g&cu avid did zijv TlQOxttGlV tov 2? 9 i'jittQ ti]v Sid tov T 
ygaqyv. zavza dt ovzoog tlnoov , trtdyti per oXiya, on I'viov 
£p ii[i *E2TSl *cu *12TSlov qpuGi ntQizztitiv to 2, t* tov 

I1ETSI dt xcd 'E2ETSI aut i'^Giv ytvio&ui to 'I2T& 
ved 'EJZTSl. y.dv fxtv doQ.iGzoodf] ygovov Gr]f,t(xlvtt> to °E£TSl> 
to A tlvai i'§cciQOVfi£vov * int dt ptXlovzog to E Xtintiv , ov 
lo A. tty oTg iniAQivtiy on to A Xtintt, Tvcc y 'EJZATSi 
\/:±TS2. TlOIHZETSlydQ, 7] NTSETQ ovdtlg Xytf tl 
Si, (f>]Gi, nod Xtlnti to E, oog ivteiooTU vov\Ttov naTcc to 

\ YZZETQ* tv Tovioig dt xctTaGtloov y.ul Tovg to 'ETS2, dep 
ov to *E2TSl, \UTSl Xt'yovTccg tKrdaH tov E tlgH, Xtyti, oog 
ovdtv tig TSl Xyyov ttqqbtu'avmov , i%ov nagaTtXtv tov to E, 

litTcaid^Giv avzo tig II' ovdtlg yd@ to 0EPETSZ AETE- 



Ill 

TSl, &EPHTSI AEEHTSl f*1*' ovxovp M 'ETJl, 
'HTSl. alg oV, qnol, xal to 'ETSl tjftmgnjrms did tov E 
Atyofievov , n'aQCf.nr,yfjiu du)a£et, rodi' nana fAfioyrj tig SIN 
6t;i>TOvog to tqitov nooaraxTixop did tov ETSL 7i(oaio7' 'EA- 
OSlN'EAGETSl, 2XSIN2XETSL, 2IISLS ZUE- 

TSl, xal META2IIETSI, zavrtj tqi> xal dno tov El- 

IISIN EllIETSl (f^Tt'oP. TlQOOTaXTlXOP fiiPTOl doQlGTOO 

fifToyr t g dnap ?.r / yomrjg fig 2, OTt tig TSl nfouiovrai inl 
tqitov ngoaomov , to") El TiaQah\yuai. o7ov 2<PArEl2 

2&jrHTJl, AAPE1ZAAPHTSL mk dno tov GEI2 

tfc xal 'E12, GHTJl xal HTSl, ov (ojv BETA ■«* 
ETSl, tv&a tjfxuQTt'tOlhti. tiwmp xutu to GETJl xaVETSl 
i\yovp vnaoyhTio , xai lo'ETJl , < i bo A4>ll- 

TSl, Xiyei , xal on m.g Ovtl El 11 quai :iQOGxaxTixop , 
ovt( dri avcov to ffTJl , dlXa EETSl toktl/.).u lor i 
rrjg 'ESIN fitroxng * d-Otp ytvioOat ro 7.7 TSl h diqOo, \ 
Mi IxtlOiv 'HTSl did rov 11 , tog ip rjj A ouyoidiu no 
yOwiTUt. 

v <)' avrog 'ijQCtxXridrig T*jg aJr>;; 'ESl\ ~ uzvtopov fitro- 
yi-g i<) fvxTixop xavovl^otv , ktyti on , xu&d Ttjg 'E N 

xat 'EWSIX utroy7;g fvxnxd EAGOl xal 'ElllOf, ou- 

tio M xal IXSIN 'EJUZXOf, xal EIUZIIJIX no- 
TMOS 'EBOBOl mm m ;, EJlX'EOf, ovyl 

'Elf I. KfQi di tov 'Ell I . ov '/.uyog i'orai Tig xal iv to7g (il- 
ia ravra, It'yei, o>g nmp {"];i« nxnxop iyop t>]p El diqdoy- 
yop TTagartlfVTot', xal to TtXog did too H , *x ftfToy/;g nt- 
rxohtiai /.ryovaf;g tig EIS, Ot' u)]v fig SIX' xal tuvto qa- 
itoop qr,aiv in reap jJioXtxiup fifToyulr. siiolug ydo to 

\oji\ : yoomx. <i>po\jis <ppoxowx, xaud 

Cfioia ra nap i]u~ip <P1^1EIHN Xt'yovai xal XOEIH^ ' 
ineidr, xal rag /tttroydg ttvrwp fig El— TtQsqt <H- 

AEIZ xal NOBIS ;.>yn:tg cliil r0» <1>1 111S xal 



NO JIN, HUTU 6)] TO OfiOlOV HOU OtTlO T%Q SIN , TtQbiTOTVnOV 
fllTO/JjS OV&yiCCQ TTQWTqg TCOV UfQlGnOJfieVCOV y HY\ (XV &VHTC- 

xovto OIH i xal AioXixulg EIH* inn xal q fi(TO%i] EI2> 
ovio) dt iiQWTQv elnojv , vnoxaT<xfidg ygotyfi, ovrojg ' and tov 

GEIE xal BAEI2 fhmtt GEIO ivxtixov mi BAEIO, 
ov XQqoig tv 'Iliads nuv di towvtov tvxTtxdv , fjyovv fig 
O Xijyov, nagd 2ixt\o7g and twv nag t]{i7v tigEES. hiyova&v 
(xnoywv , [tfTajjdklov to O fig E , nhfovvTixdv notn ngoG- 
feto rov T' OEIO GEITE, ZQAFEIO mATEITE, 
BARGEIO BAIIGEITE. ihadnolv, on ov™ xaV'O m - 
gog and tov AIAKPINGE12 xal tov txn&fv JZixslixov 
ATAKPINGEIO hn to AIAKPINGEITE TAXI- 
2TA, xal and rfjg xacd ZtxeXovg EI2 finox^ xal to EIO 
ttW«ioV y.al to EITE ohv nom K EIT 'OATSZHI 
AMYNEMEN — ■ xaradiynav xal zovg Uyovrag rd toiccv- 
r« Gvyxtxdydou • oTov to AIAKPINGEITE in tov Al- 
AKPINGEW1E, xal rS EITE dnd tov ETHTE, d- 
:ic)V wg ov diaqsgufiiOa o.vrolg , ov ydg aionov avTa xaxa 
cvyxom}v i&rijic'x&c/.i. Eustath. p. 1755. 1. 54. 

6. Ki/ip**A*ff« * rovEIATO v.vxl tov 'EKAGHN- 
TO iv t<» 11 ENTHKOSIOI A 'EN 'EKA2TM - l'dg V 
<V.«^/'- 'EIATO. o'i'to) xal h 'IUddv to 'EIATAI'EN 
METAPOIX TIOTIAEVMENAl ', yd£g xa T d 'Hga~ 

iiXildi]v ngofvexTiov* ov ydg y.ddr}vTui, qjijclv, «U' vtujcq%ov- 
giv , ijyovv fiGiv. "Iwveg ydg TOig nugaxeipz'votg avTi tviGrw- 
tmv '/Qtovrcu,' oTov AIANENOIIMAI dvvl tOV AIA" 
NOOTMAI, xal tu oftoia* 

nlaTvvwv 6e 'Hguxlddw tov ntgUov 'ElATAl loyov, 
yod^TOiavra^ olg'HXElTAI 'HXHTAI, 'SLIKEI- 
TAI, ovTcog and T?jg SI ngojv^g sv£vylag twv nfQiGnwpi- 
vmv, na&riTMQv iv£Oio~)Tog tqUqv, EITAI' ov tin uv na- 



120 

qum Ifttvog HTATy (inamoovGfi? y.uvTav&ct T~ t g EI oV 
<p&6yyov eigH' nXr^vvTixov di avtov Tcooa&tGit, tov N <xva- 
tiyag HNTAI, x«r« to 11EII0IHTAI nEIIOIHS- 

r EAl , xotl ru oroide ' tixv. fovtxij tftrjoti xov H fig E y.ul 

A, wg NENOHNTA1 NENOEATAI, oU™ x*l '//_\ - 

TAI * EAT AT. "O^gog dt scarce 'fada ngoG-tJftg to I, £jW| 

'EIATA1 'EN UETAPOIS. fhu tif* t fa xal to Sugv- 

vofxivov xul did rojy avr<Zv GTOiytiwv ixtftgoutpov cirog 
tyfi. to ydg *HNTylI r,yovv y.dO?]i>Tui , y.czTu ruijaiv rr,g 
HN avkXccprjg fig E nmt A , * EAT MI XtyenW oTov, 'OI 
4H NTNEATAl 2IFHL tritm « 6 mm** Z™yn xal 
on I'viot tojp Iojvcov, oig dwolov&ei , gi\g\ , iter* o va Xuha- 
xd yocafjag <l)dt]tdg f'iif KuMlvng, povop to If £9 ro7g toioi'- 
zotg n ■ctyaxeifitvoig fig E xul A xf'u. it999 _V 

prtftrm**, IlEllOU: tNTAl Hf-rec n*l FBrBNE- 
ANTJI, mrtvnml to \ETBNONTO i:r i:\lO- xal 

too noXldxig , qt]Gi. ixugd roj wotfjry ovrm ; 
qpft -/mi rd ivi'/.d , dlyu ptorOi rov iV* to ]lEJIOIH'J\il 

ual NENQHTAI, UIJIOIE 1TAI ffmrnmo md NB* 

I\OEATAf. v (iftioi'^oiOTuozuog ixdoctg 01 x otdtv "O- 
fi)joov r^Sf rij dmXixsm ygo'ifxfiov ' ei xal tigIv i'do'ifv 6fi 
KoUEllOmTAlUEllOlElTlL obtm wi 'HTll 
xov, ^yovv xav>/;ra*, ftwio&i 1 E.-lTAI. ioi '/finfOi'iui Bouo- 
Tt/Ang cirri irhtBpOTOMOV TOO HSTAI EATAl Iv kZ 01 

Jll NTS' EAT 11 Z I Till, o *j r/fti 6 ( Hga- 

ttXttfyg lincov ovdmoxt tov "Our;gov h uglv 

uirl Tx\i]\}vvTtxioi>, xax Bouoiuiv tdo&v. Eustath. 

p. i8u5. 1. 15. 

". 01 xa& *HoamliidfJP ra ro/ra unv oOKnixtov nioir- 
g-tcoi(H oji 7 i t g 7TO0)rr,g ov^ryt'etg xat riov ( jugvToiwv di g>, 
' xaid to inx6i> fig ujv 21 GvXXaprjp ntgc \ II 



121 

tiaoablyovrog ' to yap $IAEI, xal NOEI, xal AETEI, 
*<*l$EPEI, &IAH2I, qwl, xalNOHSI, ™l AE- 
TH2I, wl &EPH2L Totovvov di xctl to AAM11PON 

T1AM&AINH2I net(f c Ofi^QM «7T«|, y^Gi, yQf]Ga t ittva) ty 
dialiXTcn inl tovtov, xuIutqu di xal to Gyijttct *Ifivy.?iov vno 
yQct^ficcTixcjv dux tov ptlonoidv df]lad?] y '/pvxov ydtidijo-ciVTU 

TOlCtVTT] yXbJGGIJ " fldl}, (f^Gl, XCtl TO'JI, T01IT tGTlV TO 

vnctQXw , ngoWrig tarl Gv&ylag , xar« to f&IAJl,' x«l IgtI 
tqitov avTOu Ely AojQi^6f.ievov xaTCt 'Pr t yivovg yivovt ccv 
oftolcog Ac tovtov'ITSIN 6 iveoTwg. tGTtov di, oti ov tisqI tql- 

TO)V av&V7I0T(X'ATGJV tGTlV 6 l6} f 0g , OnoloV TO A ASH , AA- 

XH- i£ olv AABHEI, AAXI1II' *yv* ydo wl ogk 
ToiavTu, ov ^Piiylvoiv tlatv, coUa '/avow* Eustath. p. 1676. 

I s 7 . 

8. to di AEAAKTIA tyn piv vqigtmov nuQv.xtlfAtvov 
xccl did tov H. AEAHKE yaQ mg to AAIMONIII TI AE- 
AJIKA2. — 'Jovixojg di 1] Xtgtg no A nQonuQvlriyiTv.i , gv~ 
GTtiXtvTO; tov EI, AojQitlg t uiv yap to II eig A fiaxgov tqz- 
ttovgiv oTov AIIMOZ AAMOZ, MIIN MAN. "Iwvzg 
di iig pQctyv xavaGTQtqjOVGLv * ohv AEAIIKTIA AEAA- 
KTIA , MEMIIKTIA MEMAKTIA. oikiog Aqjdoviog. 

'Ugaxkeidfjg di , iv oTg Xtyst to AAKNJl AtoQidi, xul 
'iccdc ninoujG&uv dtaXtmuy AtQQulg (.liv yuQ , qtjoiv , tvTt- 
tkuniy TtoN' OTSl OTNSl, ATSl ATNSl, *to- 
tfg di pgayvvovGi to H dice tov A' indyeb ovtco, ME2HM- 
IJPIA ME2AMBPIA, IIUPH 1IAPH, AEAH- 
KTIt AEAAKTIA, MEMHKTIA MEMAKTIA, 
■n>\?>upu)v ovtw xcxi avTog tm 'Agt&ovion Eustath. p. 1711. 

1.%. 

9. 7T«Q<xitfifitvou ivog noUol tvtGTWTtg wqiivtuV ivog 
di av&ig tvsGttaTog nctocMtlfiitvoi nollol , cog olov tm tov 
<PIASI y.ai PHOSl' *V «* *& t* iV itctQctxtifiitvOQ oloxh}- 



122 

cog IIE&IAHKA, TETEGUKA SfvugogdirETHGA, 

I1E&IAA' TQiTog, nag "luce dlyu tov K, IIE&IAHA, 
FETEGHA' oTg, qr,Gi , xul "Ofitjoog yoto&ui iiw&fv 

iff tTlQMV QJtfXUTOiV' Ojg blf tX TOV TETTXHKLA TE~ 

TTXIIA )Jyu, AIAIIPT2I0N TETTXHJ22. xi- 

TV.grog di , qrjffi, nugaxdufvog tov <!>IAfL IIE&IAEIA' 

n(j6g Sp "O[i v oog iff*** to NEKTSLN KATATE- 

GNEISlTSlNtxTOv TEGXEIA naoav.fuuiov. m'fiinzog 
nuQaxttfitvog ix tov 1JE&IAEIA 6 llE$IAEA di/u roe /* 
cv noog dxolov&iav to 'E2TE0l v 'EIN 'yflJAO, d^6 
Tf'ig E21EJ22 , qr,ot , fi£TO"/y,g tov 2TJI (jfjfuxrog* noX~ 
Xdxig di, (fy]oiu , vnctU.anoiat xal txxr t v diuqopdv naoaxitr- 
ftt'vojv ix tov E fig co A. to yovv E2TEA \A — PA1 Xi- 
yovaiv ' d(p ov fAfTox*j E2TAJUS' TOvrodi, qr t oi», •/ 
pfrdziioxjig fori to? E tig A 'Jionwg , ij tov II fig A* naru 

di to "EZTAA-EZTAILZ yU-erai xal AEAaSIZ h na- 

(JUXflfitVOV TOV JJLJXjL OVTOi 61 XUl BEBAJlS, PE- 
TAS1~ } MEMAJ12 , xui u'O.u. iv TOvroig di 6 anog 
IlQuxXeidiig xal to 11EIIAGTIA SiaoaquZv , OMQ iv ro7g 
izijg nov y.Hvca TTug'Ou> n xal on ru i-Tjxuxrt/.d 9 

d)i> al iinoyal fig JiX olviovoi , giop TTX1L-TT \Ji \, 
'EPPJl-ETPJiX, 6 t uoio>g To7g nfQianui^fvoig ogtony.olg 
•sunt rov iTuoaxfiufiov uXbortm*' oh* Th TT\ //A /. EX" 

PJIKA' itctiftfToyal TETTXHKSLZ ETfHKMX 

ovxovf xal tov llAGJl-JIAOJlX xktoig dpoiu II PA I A- 
GHKA 11E1I AOHKS1I, Or^vxov UEUAGriA.o^fo 
<)i AEAHKHK&2 AF4HKQJS, TErMSHKHZ 

FErilGJlZ 'lajvtx?; ovyxoxf, , octco xal IIEILIGHKJIZ 

1IE1IAGJIZ, ov &yjXvwo\ nEIIAGTIL 

otj[.i£iu>oui <$ fv to7g noofip^juftoig to it qv)it~ uoi ■»• MrJ 
in; i» ypaqij ' o d) t ?>o7 uu^uxtlutvov q toioi ufi'Ov /uiv mml 

;:). : (>ccig xal poi.Gft fioitj, ftij ypuqonciov di y tK 



125 

cvov dr>l(xd)j -/ml ccva£oioTov, wg IlouxXeld^g (f^oiv, Eustath. 
p, 1700. 1. 5i — 5i. 

10. ngohcc /iuv iuttov, ozt to FINSL2K0N ^ccgrrj- 
g&m tioxu fiij yQCiffOuevov FFFNSLZKON iv dvai F, o)Q 
*HQay.ltLdv}Q poiXerai* Xiyti ydp ixthog, oxv } cHottsq TEASl 
TEAI2KSZ 'liavt'Aojg did tov K ncxQccX^yofiivov rot Sxal tv} 

J, ofiolwg *ul eOPSl OOPIZKSL, -ml MOJfl MOAI- 

2KJ2, ovtoj xul NO SI JS0I2KSL. ix tovtcdv aard j^)«- 

aiv OPS12KSI, BJJ12KSL, NSL2KJI, **l AioUx^ 
rNSlZKSl- Alolelg ydg , <piQl, to NOSL FNSl q:*- 
clv * o&cv xul to AM&IFNOEIN , ?jyovv di%ovotlv " xul 

vStffnoia, »*i *»' 'afnoeiNxui n 'afnoia. *y 

oTg nagadovg^ 6 'flgaxluldtig, tog npogTidiaoc to F Tccig Xi£eot> 
xal ol 'UniiQtoTcct, , wg xccl dMa'/ov i(S$e&ii, top AOTIIOJSf 
FAOTIION XtyovTeg • Sfey xul 'EPIFAOTIIOZ HOZIZ 
l HPH2. i'v&ct tiv^Tiov xul tov 'E11I A 'EFJOTIIH- 
Z AN 'AQHNAIH TE KAI C HPH' ngoo^tg jt «- 
ntv xul otv dno Tod NE&02, N0<P02, xul FN0&02 
AloUxov > ulXwg AN0&02* Y.al otl w»l iv rji'lUddt 
FENTO y t'iyovv s'ilno, i£codtv ifyu to F' ml wg 1] 
FNSIMH TtXtovd&t, xul aim} tm F, ywopiv?] d>jXudf} ix too 
NOSL NOHZSl, Ampwk ^ NSIMH , Aioliv.m 61 
FNSIMH , didd<jxti,ujg'7a)V£g 9 6V v.v dvadml^v ^(acctcc, 
to a.vzo uqxtixov noiovvTav -nQOiTr k g xul devTegug GvXkupyg, 

AABE20AI AEAABEZGAI, KJMSl KEKAMSl, 
1IIOE20A1 11E1IIOEZOAI, JA2KSI JIAAIKSl, 
TTZKSl TITTEKSl, #N¥fe d (in fUteot dvo duoia uei- 
au&cci, notQaXlf]).<x, 

TOivvv , qqal, tov NOIZKSl, ovviiQwivov , wg tiQn- 
t(U, fig to NSL2KSI , efy ^ in avrov 'iuvixij dvadinlw- 
oigNLNSlZKSl did tuv 6uo N, rov k FNS12KSI 'ttnu- 
M0MH19 FIFNSLZKSt did rm dvo F' <fc thcu t$ koyy 



tovto) i]Uv.Qtt]{jiivov to n±sSlXKSl did fioiov zou vmx doyr t v 

JT. tl tW TOVTO TOlOVTOVj XU& C ffouxltldt]V, 7ZTU.101T0 O.V OflOlUjg 

xai to n\JE£Qj4I y.ccl tu xax vcvto TictPTu* oTg , oi fiiv net- 
luiOl , tV OVOlTtfO&VTO , TIT NO MAI UyovTig xai TI- 
r^'OME£\02' ovtoj xul toc cilia* oi dt rartoov , ojotl xai 
(pcidot.nvoi yQccq.iY.ov fjitlavog , to dtVTtgov r napilti^av. 

tori yuo xd vxuvQu , o>; 'llouy.liidr,^ (HovltTai, xuOu 

MJSNdi MEMNSL %<xtm fonlmmaepo* , xai /utTa&t'ati tuu 
Eelg I MIMNSlxatd V»v«* ovtcm xai TENJl TEFNJkt 

xul tg avrov FirNSi FirNOMAI xul tu and aw*** fa 

tovcoiq dt ntnl dvudinloiOcG); v./.hc io/.o, -oi-uti og Jf'iUxltl$t]S 
Xtyti, 6tl } o:u t vly.oc f.i;i> g, 'vadinlo)Gtg £ , inttotlTat, 

to uloxh;fjuv inif< mtXlu6r tt Intzut to Tt'ltov xai xot- 

vov fuag OulXccprft ttootto dinluaia^jutiov' to yc"> AABJ2, 
fitrt orllupy ovTiog voiton tov xutu dvuduilaou 1E- 

' ItSL to 6 avid y.c.l M tCjv alibi*' ore dt yaau^an 
ii>\)to)i)t7TUi ti 1 / < >ni; , Tort iaoai > f uiudt- 

SinXutnivi't too).',. < . }£ENJ1 M/M \Ji II. - 

\Jl r/IWJi- Ovtoj H xul MBAft M/;\J.L r l. xul 
it).foi/a(7 t u(y i'/yoiv nuociOiGfi xov B, MEMB 111 nupfp- 
TtOt'vTOg too 11 did to i(t;dt'nOTt xard uluv avlla3i]i> r<7 ./ 
IntoOi.i ro .1/' xul tx too ILdPAMEME HI- 

KE, TIAPJMEMBMIK& Evsfttl L 

36. etc. 

§. CXLII. 
In his omnibus criticoruni vcterum solennis et in- 
reteratus error, quo archaisnios pro idiotismis, ant, ut 
Latine loquar , piisci et obsoleti sermoni* rtliquias pro 
singularum gentium aberrationibus vel poctarum licen- 
tiis acceperunt, plane conspicuus est. Ceteroqni, con- 
versis eorum scntentiis, et quae singularum usui 
consuetudini abnormi tvibuerunt, in sincerornm et a 



12 b 

tiquissimorum loco habitis > exempla, quae ex fontibus 
jamdudum bbturatis ac deperditis arcessivere, ad justam 
aliquam notitiam priscae grammaticae quemvis adduceie 
possunt, 

§. CXLIII. 

Verborum modis , temporibus , numeris ac vocibus 
ea grammatica locupletissima est, atque in eorum usu 
ac discrimine poetae antiquissimi ccv.Qifjtia ubique con- 
stans et eadem : cum posteri vocum discrimen in multis 
neglexerint, haudparvo detrimento linguae; quae eomul- 
turn perdidit perspicuitatis illius subtilis et exquisitae, 
quae singulis vocibus singulos vel cogitandi, vel agendi, 
vel patiendi modos distincte ad amussim exprimere so- 
lebat. Modorum tamen usus Homericus paullo licen- 
tior quibusdam visus est : sed an ratione grammaticae 
minus aptus et congruus sit, quam posterorum con- 
suetudo, quaestio admodum diflicilis est, cuius solutio 
petenda ex intimis recessibus humanae mentis. 

$. CXLIV. 

Verborum tempora in omnium linguarum principiis 
tria tantummodo fuisse, praesens, futurum ac praeter- 
itum, ipsa rerum natura indicare videtur: nam distin- 
ctions vel modificationes illae perfectorum , imperfe- 
ctorum, etc. nonnisi e grammatica jam culta, et ad 
animi subtiliores sensus exprimendos ordinate, oriri po- 
tuerunt. Si autem conjecturis indulgere liceret, ex iis 
quae Heraclides commentatus est in 'EA, *HA> 'JEON 9 
'HN, etc. *) dicerem, omnia praeterita terminationem 



1) \ido supra in Exeejptii* 



126 

primae personae singularis, voce activa, in A habuisse, 
atque ideo praeteritum imperfectum et utrumque aori- 
stum una eademque forma expressos esse: adjecto enim 
jVnnali, quod conclusionem duntaxat vocis post lite- 
ram vocalem significabat, transitio zou A^S in OA baud 
minus facilis quam xov^EAS in V/lVficret; atque bac 
ratione originem ac veram indolem aoristi secundi asse- 
qui possumus ; in quo HemsterhusiusetLennep praeter- 
itum imperfectum ex alio tbemate se percepiase credc- 
bant, cum usus tamen ejus Homericus aorLtum tempua 
subaudiendum indicet. Neque duo futura a diversis 
thematibus , ut iidem viri docti pro comperto babue- 
runt, orta esse videntur, ecd diversa literarum elisione 
in diversas formas contracta esse, modo quo supra 
ostendimus. 

§. CXLV. 

Aliorum quoque scbemata temporum, quae cocoiia- 
IwTiQcc quibusdam visa sunt, eadem ratione formata esse 
nullus dubito ; ita ut non modo TTHTE2SI i" 7T- 
IFTEJl, TFPJl, Trunin TTllll paullatim con- 
traberetur, sed TETTIiA TETT*A TETTMMAt % 
'JETTWIX, 'ETMGHNt etc. eadem ratione e formis 
regularibus ab uno themate TTllill deductis, literii 
paullatim elisis, aut emollitis, enScta suit. Si enim 
unumquodque verbum ihemata tam varia ac diversa ba- 
buisset, non eadem ratione in omnibus ea theraata for- 
mata essent: at singula quaeque verba suas varietatcs 
ab aliis diversas habuissent, ita ut nulla analogic int'-r 
sese conjungerentur; neque cum themata TYll'Vll* 
TTIISI, TTUEJly TT<PJh TMHMIet TPPGHU1 
extitisse concederemus, ratio constaret, qua KTlll.l, 



V2 7 

KAANFSL, KAAZSl et tot alia verba pari more mo- 
doque sua quaeque themata diversa haberent. A thema- 
te nihilominus in MI recte fortasse deduceremus aori- 
stos illos 'ETTIIHN et 'ETmOHN: nam themata 
activa in MI e passivis in MAI orta esse videntur; at- 
que ideo aoristos hos , ut eorum participia in EI2 vel 
EN2, significationem passivam in activa forma reti- 
nuisse, aeque ac participia Latina in ENS, quae pro 
passivis usurpabantur in prisco sermone. x ) Haud ta« 
men cum viris doctis temere pro praeteritis imperfectis 
huiusmodi aoristos habuerim; cum litera 2, characte- 
ristica futuri et aoristi primi in voce activa, et ab im- 
perfecto alienissima, locum in eo aoristo passivo, in 
verbis etiam puris, in quorum thematibus aut praeteri- 
tis perfectis nullum usquam istius literae vestigium in- 
ventumsit, obtineat; ut in 1 EMNH2GHN a MNAO- 
MA1 seu MNHMAI, et 'EPPSL2GHN a x PSlOMAI 
6eu C PSIMAI. Mihi igitur rem saepius retractanti pro- 
babilius videtur, 'ETT^GHN ex 'ETT1IT2AMHN, 
vulgo itvyjdftiiv , ut in voce media extat, paullatim con- 
tractum esse, quam e positione derivata TT&GHMI 
confictum; praesertim cum ejusmodi formas in Home- 
ricisvim aoristi, non imperfecti, semper etubique habere 
observaverim, et contractiones alias haud absimiles 
ipsi viri docti in verborum conjugationibus agnove- 
rint. 2 ) Litera 2 quoque locum tuetur, ubi litera penul- 
tima primae positionis spiritus sit; ut in HAH2GHN * 
IIAHGSl, quod tamen Atticum haud ita antiquum esse 
puto ; et veteres Iones , qui 2 ex omnibus semper liben- 



i) Aul. Gell. Lib. II. c. II. et Gronor. not. 
2) Lennep. Analog. Grace. L. VII* 



120* 

tissime extrudebant, IIAHOGHN, non HAHZGHN t 
pro antiquiore et pieniore 1IAHGZGHN scrip6isse. 
Sententiam grammaticorum, qui hunc aoristum e prae- 
teiito perfecto deducunt, merito repudiavit Lermep. 
Lacones 2 in omnibus pro Q usurpaverunt ; atque eorum 
mos loquendi in sermonem communem aliquatenus, et 
inde in carmina Homerica irrepsisse videtur; quamvis 
Doricaista dialectus abAchaica antiquisaima maxime alie- 
na esset. Hinc praettr ita perfecta AEAA2MAI, 11E- 
11T2MAI etc. a AAGSl sen AHGSl, IlTGSl etc. or- 
tum habuisse credere licet; quae ideo a nobis in justio- 
ra et antiquiora AEJ.lGMAh UEILTGMAI etc. red- 
igenda eiunt; nisi ubi thema in //2JI vel SJl esse po- 
tuerit. Utrum Ionic* 'E TEIf'Sl . *PGEIPSI, KTEI- 
NJl, KJSINOS, BOTAU, XEIP, etc. an antiquio- 
ra Aeolica 'ETEEEJi, QSEPPSL* KTESSll, 
KENNOS* BOA. I 1, XMP2> etc. magis Homerica 
sint, cum pro compcrto non habeam, vulgata soliici 
nequaquam ausus sum. 

§. CXLVI. 

Nodum in scirpo quaerit 6 (to&vQ lleraclides, cum 
$e torquet de A" fmali in imperfectis contractorum *); 
contract io cnim ista tuu EE vel EEX in El Attica est, 
et dialectis vetustioribus prorsus ignota ; neque A finale 
in tenia persona singulari alienius plusquamperfectis 
quam imperfectis fuit 2 ). Contractio quoque, in se- 
cunda persona passiva, tov EIAI, E\41\ HAI, vel 
EAI in HI vel EI, posterorum esse, et Honiericis per- 



i) Vide supra in excerpt. 

2) Corinth. Ep. de Dial. Att, s. LVHI. 



12 9 

inde ignota videtur. Aritiquis&ima forma erat proculdu- 
bio ESAI; quae more Ionum , ejecta consona et pro- 
ducta vocali , HAI fiebat , atque ejecta tantum consona 
HAI, et sibilo in spiritum asperum Dorice mutato, 
E\AI x ) , et Aeolice fortasse EFAI; cujus tamen nul- 
lum extat exemplum , quoad nobis scire contigit. 

§. CXLVII. 

In aoristis primis et praeteritis perfectis verborum 
in AFJ1 desinentium Iones emolliebant terminationes 
naturales AF2A et AFKA in HA, atque "EJAF2A, 
"FKAFZA, JEJAFKA, KEKAFKA, etc. *EJHA, 
V EKHA, 4E AH A, KEKHA, etc. scribebant. Ita 
quoque 'EQHKA pro 'EGEK2A ab obsoleto GEKSl, 
atque alia ejusmodi haud pauca : egregie enim halluci- 
natus est clarissimus Hermannus, cum, contra sensum 
perinde ac rationem grammaticam, °'EGHKA, v EA£l- 
KA etc. praeterita perfecta esse voluerit. 2 ) Suaviorem 
hanc Ionum priscorum pronunciandi consuetudinera 
Homericis temporibus haud ignotam fuisse, eo patet, 
quod in nonnullis, ut in TEGNHJITA pro TEGNH- 
KOTA, KEKMHSITA?™ KEKMHKOTA, etc. me- 
tri integritati necessaria est: quo praecipue motus omnia 
ejusmodi retinenda esse putavi, ut &IAAI, 'E&IAATO, 
etc. pro $Ij12AI, 'E&IA2AT0, etc.; quibus detri- 



1) e'&os ds t'xovai JojQiiojv rivte, ok yv.Q ol ^Agystoi, xal Aa- 
xojve? , y.al Ilaucpvhot, , xa* ^EQeTQitts , v.al 'fipoJ-rrioL, tvdstav 
tov 2 TtoiovvTss, Saosiav yaQarrovoi rote titi(psQO^vot? </h»j- 
VTjtoiv, ok tTri rov I101H2AI, IIOIHAI, xal BOT20A, 
BOTOA, xal MQTMKA, MPMiA, EtymoJ. raagn. in voce 
'ETI02. 

2) In grammauc. 

I 



i5o 

mentum literae alterius productione alterius compensa- 
tur *): neque erat, cur doctissimus Heyne suspicaretur, 
thema fuisse &IAHMI, priore producta, e quo aoristus 
E'PfylATO formatus sit 2 ). Hujusmodi est quoque 
praeterifum perfectum 'APHPJ12 pro 'APAPKJl2ex 
7 _APJ1 effictum , quod 'APASL seriptum fuisse in titulo 
vetere Minervae Poliadis olim eredebam, temere sequu- 
tus editorem ejus Chandlerum, qui, ductu literarum 
evanescente deceptus, 'APABAOTA, i. e* ©?pcr/?#wra, 
non striata, in 'APAP40 TA mutaverat ; ut , inspecto 
demum marmore, quod nunc in Museo Britannico asser- 
vatur, plane comperi. 

§. CXLVIIL 

Haud alia ratione II pro jfF in participils verbo- 
rum in AFSl obtinuit; ut TfMHEM, 110/HE\2, 
etc. pro antiquioribus TTMAFENS, JIOI 1FL\\±\ etc.; 
quae Homericis etiam temporibus exolevisse videntur. 
In futuris quoque et aoristis, quae vulgo ntiyo) — ann- 
(>« , iytigu) — ilyeiQoty etc. scribuntur } to H in 
locum tou El recipiendum putavimus, tarn constan- 
tiae ergo, quam quod ita pronunciasse videntur: nam 
utrum primae positiones antiquae JlEIPJlj 'ETE1PJI, 



i) Vide Auli Gellii librura II. cap. XVH. 

S) In II. E. 61. to U KEKMHP.TI ty.ov vti 'lujyixor tart, 
rnvTor ov 9m KEKMUKOTI, aTvloi.y]v to" K -Ti~Tor$o; 'iiw- 
■rixto*, xal ixTaaii' toc O. Enstarb. p. 641. 1.2. Ratione paullo 
diversa EZTAKOTA, rEFAKOTJ , etc. e ZTAQ, TAQ t 
* etc. fovm.ua, in * &2TQTA , r£! .QTA, etc. contracta sunt. 
Eadem tamen prima syllaba in mikmrvm prodncitur ^Hymr. 
in Cerer. 117.) : est enim futurum subjuncrivi, exrruso sibilo 
et producta vocali, Ionuni more s oleum, pro yi/.cuarcu. 



i5i 

etc. an HEPPJI, 'JETEPPJl, etc. fuissent, futura et 
aoristi regulares IlEPZSl — "E17EP2A — 'EPEPSJl 
— HFEP2A esse debebant ; e quibus, solita elisione zov 

2, et productione vocalis antecedentis, ItHPSh 

°'EI1HPA , 'ETEPSl — °'HFHPA , etc. fieri oporte- 
bat. Praeteritum perfectura, participio et verbo auxi- 
liari'XYiZsignificatum, ut ZTHZAZ^EXEIH, BE- 
BOTAETKSIZ ^EXETS 1 ), etc., quod Attici in deli- 
ciis habuerunt, Homericus serrno non agnoscit; et, At- 
ticorum venia dixerim, recentiorum magis barbariem 
quam veterum elegantiam sapit. In Homericis autem 
praeterita perfecta et plusquamperfecta passiva tertia 
persona plurali, quae, postea exoleta, participiis et ver- 
bis anxiliaribus exprimebantur, haud infrequentia sunt; 
ut TETETXATAT, 'ETETETXATO, etc.; quae 
Atticorum et aliorum aetate posteriorum sermone TE~ 
TTFMEN01 ElZl ^H2JN, etc. fuerint. In hac enim 
re grammatica antiqua locupletior fuit, ut consuetudo 
loquendi in omnibus splendidior , unctior et nume* 
xosior. 

§. CXLIX. 

De modorum ratione et U6u Homerico aliquid certi 
statuere aut defmire perquam difficile et lubricum est, 
quoniam alia loquendi consuetudo in hac parte apud po- 
steros obtinebat, ad cujus norraam rhapsodi et gram- 
matici linguam veterem flectere et convertere, quoad 
metrum sineret, semper studuerunt; ita ut haud pauca 
mutata et corrupta esse , in re tarn diu tractata et tam 



i) Sophocl. Oed, Tyr. 699 — 701. Ed. Brunei. 

I 2 



l52 

parum intellecta , credere liceat. Cum tamen optativus 
et subjunctivus de indicativo pendere quodammodo vi- 
deantur, ex eo profectos esse credendum est, alterum e 
tempore futuro, alterum, adjecto verbo otfiaw vel trjfu; 
atque inde tvtitouh,, Tvipouu, rwpcufu, rv\puu 9 etc. 
confxcta esse. Impetum itaque vel voluntatem animi 
in agendo exprimere debuerat optativus; atque sic usor- 
patum esse in sermone antiquo, ex Homericis constare 
puto. Apud tragicos optativus, sine AN vel KE, desi- 
derativum, et, adjecta ista particula , potentialem si- 
gnificationem semper habet; antiquiores autem poetae 
nullum ejusmodi discrimen agnovisse videntur. 

§. CL. 

Subjunctivus actionem de alia actione vel conditione ali- 
qua pendentem exprixnit, atque ei ideo quodammodo fu- 
turam, unde in Homericis futurum indicativi locum sub- 
junctivi saepe usurpat ; et futuro rum formae in utroque 
modo eaedem sunt. Apud posteroa discrimina subtiliora in 
usu subjunctivi observata sunt, poetis antiquissimispror- 
sus ignota; itaut t'rustra laboraverit vir y/inxoiraro^nec 
minus animi virlutibus quam ingenii elegantia aestima- 
bilis, Burneius noster, remissiora ea et vetusta ad mo- 
rositatem Atticam redigere J ). Attici conjunctionem 
conditionalem EI indicativo et optativo tantum adhi- 
Duerunt; atque adjecta particula dubitantis KE vc 1 *A \ 
dubitationem vel itaaqnav generaliter exprimit; et utra- 
que, vel separatim vel conjunctim, prout sententia po- 
stulaverit, unlcuique modo adhibita sunt ; nequeffjr,- 
pcrr«*//?t/xeMt, quibus indicativus more subjunctivi tic- 



1) In Miltoni Poexu.ua GraecA. Lond. 1791, 



ioa 



ctebatur, e Rheginorum dialecto, quam Homerici per- 
inde acSinicam vel Iaponicam intellexissent, arcessenda 
sunt; neque viro praestantissimo EI JE KE et EI KE 
in EI JE TE et ET TE commutami obsequendum x ): 
alteram enim nusquam in Homericis occurrit, alterum 
semel tantum, ubi TE, restituto F, locum sponte ce- 
dit: (lys titv eifoirjg, scribendum EI MEN FEI- 
JEIH2 2 ). TE apud poetam vel inavoQ&MTixov vel 
inuvuXrjTCTixdv velfopcctcotixov est in vocemproxime ante- 
cedentem ; neque ulla ratione copulis KAl ', TE , JE, 
etc. subjungi potest, nisi cum pronominibusveladverbiis 
•mxaesiiit, xitinTOTE, "OJE, 'ENSAJE, etc. 
Eandem ob causam nuili usquam aut pronomini relati- 
to 3 ), aut adverbio loci vel temporis indefiniti et in- 
certi, ut IIOTE, c 'OTE, UOGI, IIOGEN, etc., 
flubjungitur , sed iis tantum , quae locum vel tempus ali- 
quod certum ac defimtum indicant, ut 'ENOJJE, 
KEIOI, KEI2E, TOTE, NTN, 'ETI, 'EHEITA, 
UP IN, IU.P02, etc. 

Usum hunc particulae justum , subtilem et discre- 
tum neque poetae, neque historici postea unquam ob- 
servarunt; neque critici vel grammatici Alexandrini in- 
tellexisse videntur; magnumque est exemplum mode- 
fctiae , fidei et religionis , qua veteres carmina Homeri- 
ca tractaverint , eos fulcrum tarn commodum metro, e 
detrimento digammatis claudicanti et hianti, non sae- 
pius inculcasse. Kecte intellecta et accepta vim mirabi- 



i) Iliad. ^. 526. Odyss. Z. 2%2. 

2) Odyss. E. 206. 

3) ovriva ys semel dictum est Odyss. T. 511. sed tOtum epis- 
odium rhapsodi serioris foetus est. 



lem saepe habet in exprimenda et augenda vehementia 
loquentis in orationibus incitatioribus; cujus insigne 
exemplum est Iliad. E. -8? — 8. Usus ejus Inaialr^xir- 
nog couatano ac solennis est in utroque carmine; ut in 
avzu: oyt, II. B. 667. r. 32& £ 3o8. 3 27 . 585. Z 4- 1. 
©. 26K. /. 206. A'. i54. ^4. 46i. 483. A T . i64. 099. O. 4:g. 
52.3. 65o. P. 108. 0. 367. 55o. ^. 42. 896. J2. 5o. 189. 
Odyss r. 17.0. 7. 536. AT. 264. 71. 4i. 2*. 5^. T. i4o. A". 
116. 482. — in npk n » J1 - r - fiOh & 219. 288. Z. 465. /. 
488. 65i. M. 172. 45*. iV. io5. O. 55j. 77. 20j. p. 5o4. 2. 

76, 1 55. 189. 190. 534. 0. 5 7 8. A. 266. V. 45. Odyss. ^. 
2 jo. B. 128. 547. ^4. 255. 4;-. //. 196. If j8~. A. n4. 
3»a 55ft. P. y. 2*. 288. y. 45. l5& — f] r. l^JK 35o. 
429. 827. p. 483. etc. Odyss. / 4 12. A. 25$, O. 026. 71. 
lSo, LQ^. etc etc.: quern usum cura Alexandrini neque 
satis iniellectum haberent, neque hiatu omnino offende- 
lenrur, particuiam e multis locis, utinutilem et redundan- 
tem, extru! .ibua pmjiibiu , e\ aliis paribus, 
a nobis restitucndu erit: ut 11. ./. 555. B. ic 548. 

v. ..-.,. z. 81. iaa a -'-1. -' 

77. OJic. uio ♦/>. 55. 5»o. A. -. — Odyss. //. 
2 5o. P. 100. £ m 4oi. 71 !. 5i. T. 1.: uicunqiie enim lu- 
bricum et periculosum sit fulcrum tarn commodum pro 
arbiuio adhibero, tute lamen e locis paribus, vi ejus et 
ratione satis intellecta, transferre et reponere licet. 

$. CLI. 

Haud minus emcivlaturientibus commoda et oppor- 
tuna est copula poetica IAC\ atque magis etiam caven- 
da: quo enim jure in Homericis stet, in ambiguo est; 



1) Vide Schol. Ven. in II. JV. 599. 



quoniam nusquam occurrit, nisi ubi KAIve\ HAE e 
quo factum esse videtur, locum ejus sine injuria occu- 
pare potuerit: ita ut e posterorum Hcentia poetica pro- 
fectum et a dactylorum captatoribus insertum ease, su- 
spicari liceat. Si pro comperto haberem ex *HAE con- 
tractum esse, sine alia mpdTjkevftarog nota, haud cun- 
ctanter ejicerem. Caeterum particularum, copularum, 
articulorum et pronominum usus in Homericis, a se- 
riore totus di versus, testimonium satis amplum et ido- 
neum affert, carmina sinceriora, quam vulgo creditur, 
ad nos venisse. 

§. CLII. 

In Dorum veterum lingua usus subjunctivi perinde 
atque optativi cum Al vel EI sine KE vel AN solennis 
fuit; eo tamen discrimine, ut subjunctivus potentialem, 
optativus desiderativam significationem habeat *)♦ In- 
dicativumitem haud aliter, quam in Homericis, eos par- 
ticulis AI KA vel mfau subdidisse , intemeratis tabula- 
rum Heracliensium exemplis plane constat; neque solu- 
tiorem hunc modorum usum grammaticae nondum per- 
fectae cum Heynio tribuere ausim, quoniam in eo 
nihil sentire queam, quod grammaticae universalis rationi 
et indoli adversetur: modus enim Joquendi proprie sub- 
junctivus est, qui actionem non tam dubiam vel incer- 
tam , quam priori alicui, de qua pendet, subjunctam 
vel subjungendam exprimit; ita ut verbum antece- 
dens , potius quam particula aliqua, eum praefinire de- 
buerit; quod in Latinis evenit. Futurum tamen tantum 



3) Vide foed. Lacedaemon. et Argiv. apud Thucyd. "V. 77- 

et 79. 



i56 

indicativi pro subjunctivo Homericus 6ermo agnoscit; 
tifjof/ev enim, ayeigo^ifv , etc. futura sunt Ionica , scriben- 
aa FHJOMEN, *ATHPOMEN, etc. pro FEJZO- 
MEN.'jrEPZOMEN, etc., eliso sibilo , et produ- 
cts voc^li antecedente ; neque haerendum est in Iliad. 
A. 67. ubi pro fiovXttat esse debuerat BOYAHT' 9 am- 
putata syhaba finali , more Homerico, de quo vide infra 
S. CLXV. Latini autem, vice versa, praesens subjun- 
ctivi pro futuro indicativi in verbis omnibus tertiae et 
quartae conjugations adoptarunt, paullatim exolescen- 
tibus form is tuturi naturalibus; quarum nihilominus 
exempla extant, inter I erentianas etiam elegantias, 
SCJBO, SERVIBO, etc. pro recentioribus SCIAIM, SER- 
VIAM, etc., quae e praesenti subjunctivi translata eive 
reducta sunt. 

8. CLIII. 

Cum in suscepto opere restituendae Homericae lin- 
guae complurium verborum foruiae haud paullo immu- 
tandae erunt, plus ad rem arbitratus sum ea verba in 
Ordine recensere, atque rationts, quaa in singulis ini- 
mutandis sequutus sim , singulis subjungere, quam 
crebris repetitionibus earundem observationum in anno- 
tationibus lectorem pariter ac me ipsum defatigare. 
In liia autem si a viris suromis , Bentleio , Hernia, etc. 
haud raro disaentiam, ne mihi obsit eorum nomen et 
auctoritas; at judicium suum integrum ac sincerum 
lector unusquisque adhibeat, etiam atque etiam precor. 
In re tarn obscura quotusquisque criticorum non sae- 
pe et egregie hallucinatus est ? neque me communi sor- 
ti exemptum esse speravi: at dummodo critici , non ra- 
bulae, more in alienos errores animadvertam, parem irv 



3 37 
dulgentiam in meos me poscere aequum est. Ob mul- 
tos libro de hac re Anglice scripto piacularem esse profi- 
teor: attamen cum pari jure gloriari liceat, plura con- 
jecturis assequutum esse, quae, viris criticis tunc fasti- 
dita, veterum monumentorum fide nunc comprobata 
sunt, verecundiae simul ac modestiae consultum iri 
putavi, si neutra sigillatim retractarem aut perscrutarer 
curiosius, quam opus esset, ut vera elucerent, falsa pro- 
derentur: nam hoc saltern, salva modestia, gloriari li- 
cet, veritatem, non victoriam, in omni disputatione, tarn 
critica quam philosophica , animo me meo fiiiem unice 
propositum habuisse, neque ullam unquam praesum- 
ptam|opinionemtanto amore amplexum esse, utnon, me- 
liora edoctus, sponte ac libenter repudiarem. De re 
etymologica multa atque ingeniosa protulit Daniel Len- 
nep, sed omnia e suo ipsius aut magistrorum, Tiberii 
Hemsterhusii et Ludovici Caspari Valkenaerii, ingeniis 
deprompta, omni veterum inscriptionum et dialectorum 
auctoritate neglecta, neque ulla ratione habita vel ser- 
monis vel metri Homerici ; e quibus solis leges ac nor- 
ma s in regulls suis generatibus stabiliendis accersere et 
accipere debuerat. Ipsae itaque regulae, perinde atque 
omnia ex iis deducta, harum rerum studiosis maxime 
praecavendae sunt; neque ullo modo auscultandum do- 
centi, „AMNOS, Latine AGNUS, exAMENOZ, parti- 
cipioverbi AMJl, formatum esse ; quod 'AMEN02 et 
AMNOE is proprie diceretur, sensu medio, qui com- 
plecteretur et amplecteretur; vel, sensu passive, quern 
amplecteretur alius , sive, qui amaretur, quod tenerri- 
mo agno non incongruum nomen." *) Hisce et talibus 



i) Etymolog, Vol. I. p. 132, 



i58 

gaudeant ii, quibus argutiae e longinquo petitae in deli- 
ciissint; nobis autem , quo minus doctrinae tam recon- 
ditae et exquisitae insit, eo etiam minus sensu coraraa- 
ni sic carere licet; ita ut non aliunde 'AtMNOE et 
AGNUS quam ex ^ privativo cum MEXOZ et FONOS 
deducenda videmtur -AM ENOZ et AEONO-! , con- 
tracta in 'AMNOS et 'ArNOS. Ncque alitor in aliis 
obvia et simplicia abstrusis et eruditis omnino praefe- 
renda erunt. Quam vero sit periculosum in via tam lu- 
brica et distorta caecutiente6 errare , nugae hujnsmodi, 
quae viri tanri tam cumulate congesserunt, satib super- 
que demonstranr. Ut enim concedamus, verba primitiva 
quamplurima periisse, quits tamen diacreverit, quae fue- 
xint deperditorum formae, nisi quorum fragmina aut 
reliquiae in dialecris aut monumeniis antiquis super- 
sint? Atque si e conjecturis analogicis primitiva pro li- 
bitu supponamus, ut exinde derivata et vulgata ad nor- 
mam qualemcunque refingamus et constituamus, qua 
denique ratione evhabiraus errores, qui e falsis prin- 
cipiis sponte pullulant, et quibus etymologica Len- 
nepiana haud minus quam antiquinra ubique scatere fa- 
tendum est. Audacter tamen progrediamur, quatenus 
veterum dialectorum auctoritas, monumentorum fides 
et justa metri ac scrmonis ratio viam ostendant ; at non 
ulterius. 

I\[F, exclamatio mirantis vel miserantis , vulgoa, 
ut « iM' 9 sed Latine VAH, quod Graecum antiquissi- 
mum esse videtur : nam in exclamatione, impetu vehe- 
mentiore prolata, spiritus ilie in fine vocis locum habe- 
re poterat in Graeco haud minus quam in Latino ser- 
mon c. 



159 
AF. v. a v — retro, vel eo sensu -quo syllaba RE in 
compositi6 Latim's — unde 

'AFTAP, exAF, TE, et APA compositum atque 

'AFT02. v.avTog, etc. 

'AFASl. 

'AFAA2SI et 

*AFHMT divers a themata esse verbi , quod in Lati- 
nis AVEO scriptum est, formae ac sensus similitudo vix 
dubitare sinit, atque inde adjectivum 

"AFATOZ idem atque AVIDUS et AVARUS; ut in 
P AFAT02 IIOAEMOFO[—v. dzog nolz'fioio, cwi- 
dus belli. Adjecto A privativo, fit 

'AAFATQ2* v.'uactTog, innoxius, vel, e quo nul- 
la mala cupido vel avaritia oriri possit$ et 

'AAFATT02 vel 'AAFA2T02, v. '« « « r o g, in- 

violabilis, vel nulli malae cupidini pel ambitioni o&- 
noxius. 

Aoristi formae contractae *A2E et 'ASAIe themate 
contracto 'AH effictae sunt; quod Homericis ignotum 
fuisse videtur; nam versus, in quibus eae formae oc- 
currunt, rhapsodorum, non poetae, sunt, ut posthac 
ostensuri eumus. 

Hesychius liabet * A ASTON — dvccfxccQtTjtov , «/Ua- 
fih» et AATON, eodem fere sensu; at litera A ex 
utroque , librariorum incuria aut desidia , excidisse vi- 
detur, perinde atque Homeri exemplaribus, quibus 
Seberus in indice conficiendo usus est. In prisco au- 
tern sermone literae 2 et T inter se commutabiles erant, 
etOATMATTA (sic enim duplici T scribi clebuerat, 
non ® ATM AT A, ut in vulgatis) apud Pindarum pro 



i4o 

OATMJ2TA erat, teste Eustathio x ) ; atque ita etiam 
multa alia ejusmodi. Pro MHAEA Hesiodum MEZEA 
habuisse idem prodidit Eustathius 2 ): ac sic antiquicres 
pronunciasse oportuit: Ionum enim est MHAEAt sen- 
au quo hie usurpatum est, ejecta consona et producta 
vocali, eorum more solemn: quo etiam *AAFATOH 
eflingi potuisset. At vetustius et ma^-is Homericum est 
'AAFATTOS. 

Attici post A privativum in contractis hujusmodi 
rocabulorum formis N paragogicum inssrebant; ut 

iit] it ccpc.tov TiQuypa tuvz dno'ttpujp.*) 
atque eo modo Dawesius 'ANyJFATON et \iSAFA- 
2TON scribi voluit; contra tamen Homericam consue- 
tudinem in AOTTON etc. conservatam; qua motisus- 
tollendum illud JVcuravimus, ubicunque vocalis subse- 
quuta sit. 

'AFATH* v. "Azri — avaritia — niala cupido et 
noxa, pka(5i), ex ea orlunda. In Homericis non nisi 
trisyllaba usurpabatur: omnes enim versus, qui earn for- 
xnam recusant, ut II. T> 85 — i5g — SI. 22 — 5o, etc., 
alias etiam ob causae pro interpolationibus rhapsodorum, 
qui sermonem veterem parum callebant, habendi sunt. 

ATAFO^. v. uyuvog, praeclarus , superbus; a 
verbo antiquo* tTAFSl — unde 'ATHMIet AT AM A L 

FATNTML v. ayvvpt, quod et 

FANTSl, et antiquius forsitan FPAXril; unde 
Latinum FRANGO; atque item Graccum FPH22SL vel 
FPHrSl. v. ()}\GOQ} t de quo infra. In aoristo secundo 



1) p. 400. 

2) Ibid. 

3) Aeschyl. Suppl. 354. ed. Glasg. 



ill 

jVejectum est, et pennhima correpta, fit *EFATH. v. 
layr], a FANFSl deductum ea ratione, quaJETTllH a 
TYFLTSL. In uno tantum loco, 11.^/. 558, penultimam 
longamhabet: sed aut in aoristum primum *EFAN~ 
XOH mutandum est, aut versus, alioqui suspectus, pro 
insititio habendus atque ejiciendus. rol uuy?}g, penul- 
tima producta, to N perinde ac to F certissima analogia 
restituendum est, atque scribendum 'AFANFH2; il- 
lud enim NF a recentioribus semper FF scribebatur, 
et librarii, cum literae geminarentur, aut incuria aut 
festinatione alteram saepe supprimebant , praesertim in 
vocabulis minus usitatis. Vide supra S. CXXV. Litera- 
rum defectu tempora futura etaoristaactiva xexbiFAN- 
TSl formas eorundem temporum verbi v AFSl t duco 7 
accepisse videntur, ut in rj£ov 9 fife, etc.; a quibus ta- 
men, antiquo pronunciandi ac scribendi modo, prorsus 
aliena sunt. 

FANJANJ2. 

FAAESl. 

FAASL — v. dvduvo), udito et oldcu •*— placeoi 
at in Hesychio tamen FANJANEIN, FAAEIN, FA- 
dE20AIj eodem sensu ; quae formas antiquas plane in- 
dicant: solennis enim est Hesychio usus tov F pro F. 
Facilis ac prona erat alioqui mutatio aherius in alterum; 
undo FHOESL, FANTMAl, et Latinum GAUDEO. 
Iones autem, amputato vel commutato spiritu et pro- 
ducta , ut solebant, vocali, °'HJSl vel \BASl et 'HJ02 
vel YHJ02 effinxerunt; quae poetae cognita esse vi- 
dentur. 

Ab hoc verbo deducenda sunt FEdNON. v. tdvov 
et i'edvov, unde 

'AFEJN02 -~ v. Kvdtdvog— indotatus, genii- 



1*2 



nato privative* ad metrum complendum, pnstquam ple- 
niores veterum loquendi modi jamdudum exoleverant. 

\AASl et 

\AAESl, v.iido) et a dim. Latini verbi forma SA- 
TIO vix dubitare sink, ZAAESl fuisse antiquiesimo ser- 
mone: nam Etrusci. Latinorum doctores ac masristri, 
literam A non habuerunt; atque ex aliis certissime con- 
stat, voces quamplurimas, Homericis etiam temporibus, 
durum ilium spiritum dentalem 2 in molliorem (- mi- 
tigasse. 

}-AAHN — v. a S tj v — abimde — ad satietatem us- 
que, quod spiritu aspero ab antiquis grarrmaticis scri- 
ptum esse, testis est Eustalhius — on, dt nut iduGuitio, 
ol naXouoi quae x ). 

\AAL\()2. v. udivog, co'f>rtux, de?i*us- 7 ut 
omnia vocabula enjuscunque generis , quae initiun. 
A collectivo vel u&qoiotmm capiunt; nam i pro 

ixftcc est, atque idcirco antiquis Uteris fad scribendum. 

\AFESl — \AFSl et Ionice '//J//; unde pradixo 
fortasse 'Ufil, &AFJ1 et 4>IIMf — monstru , .'ere 

facio, ac metaphorice dico; e quo verba Latina FAOR, 
AIO et alia innuniera in utraque lingua emcta sunt, quae 
speciem ac formam parentis plus minusve exhibent; ut 

\AF02, lonice 'HJ12 — quod fortasse Homeric 
cum; Attice *oj£ — aurora. 

<PAF02. v. (pu>e, et diaeresi ad metrum supplen- 
dum qoa>Q — lux — lumen. Idem alia dialecto est La- 
tinum FAVOR. 

Atque hie cuivis mirari licet, doctissimum Hovne 
usque adeo coecutiisse, ut pro AAM04>AFSIS et AA- 



*) P» 1556. I. 59. Eustathio 01 rcalaioX Alexandrini sunt. 






FOKAFJIN in epigrammate, quod Friscianus legerat 
in tripode vetusfissimo in Xerolopho Byzantii, A AMO- 
&OFON et AAFOKOFON seriptum esse voluerit 1 ). 
Vix enim tiro aliquis paullo accuratius institutus nomi- 
na antiqua ita e eontractionibus et diaeresibus recentio- 
rum refingere ausus esset, contra omnem rationem ac 
consuetudinem prisci sermonis. 

\AFAPF2TON — v. vqkjtov — prandium — 
cibus qui primum mane sumebatur; unde nomen ab 
\AFQ2 accepisse videtur. Sensum ejus recte ceperunt 
veteres; de etymo mira commentati sunt 2 ). 

A\FHP — v. ui]q — tenebrae — et casibus obliquis 
fitQQs* tfiQh etc.; quae antiquissima esse videntur; signi- 
ncado autem ortum indicat ex A privativo et \-AFEfl; 
unde pleniorem ejus formam *A\AFHP fuisse credide- 
rim , atque ex ea Homericum *A\FHP contractum. 

'AFEIKH2 — * r. defxqg — indecens — ab A 
privativo et FEIKSI; de quo infra. 

*A\Ul, 

*A\-ESl et 

'AFHMI — splro — unde epitheton Vulcani 

A\ 1H TOE> v. a'h]Tog, anhelus, nvevaxog — e t 

*A\HTH2. v. flatus — verities. 

'AYE A A A. v.«^;.« — procella; atque item vox 
Latina ANHELVS; et 

A\HP. v. dyp — aer — casibus obliquis yzgoQ, 
WQo, etc.; quae Homericis etiam temporibus sic forte 
pronunciata erant. 



i) Not. in exctirs. III. in II. T. Vol. VIII. p- 7^7- 

a) Viae Polyb. IV c. LXXI. Eustath. p. 1432. h &> P- *79 x ' 
1. 35. etc. 



f Ay ATP SI f 

'AYEIPSI et 

*A\-E/PESl — v. deign — utiotco — sumo, 
tollo, ex^intensivo et YEPJ1 , \AIPJl et \A1PESI 
composita esse videntur, atque idcirco iia scribenda: 
nam antiqui in mediis vocibns perinde atque initiis aspi- 
rationem densam exprimebant ac literarum notis signi- 
ficabant *). 

'A\EKSLS* v. axoji/ et detutp — invitus, nolens, 

'AYEKH11. v. «#'«4*< — invite, ab A privativo 
et \EKSl. 

A\EATJSl» v. at). no) — despero — ab A privati- 
vo et YE A1IJ1, quod vide infra. Vide item 

'AFEPFOI v. ii Qf6o, 

'AFE2T/02 v. « . 4* nog, 

'AFHO E22SL v. * *, & t> a w, 

'AF1JU2. v. * Aiding — et Atticc j 

'AFIJP/2, etc. w.aid(ji^ etc. in I LP TJ1, FE- 
QSl , FETJSl, etc. infra exposita. 

*AIFAN2 — v. A tug — nomen e participio elK- 
ctum, atque ita cum F scriptum in gemma antiqua 
Etrusci operis 2 ). 

'AFEGAOX. v.a&Xov — certaminis praemium 
— ab ' AFAP , de quo supra. In Homericis est semper 
tri6yllaba ; neque certior interpolationis nota quam for, 
ma ejus contracta ostendi potest. 

'AIFEL v. ait I 



1) Vide tab. Heracleens. Non alitcr in Alexandrinis Hon 
coram codicibus locum habuissc e sckoliis Veneiianis plane 
liquet. 

2) Collection d'Oileans. Tom. II. pi. z. 



145. 

AIFSlN. v. ahov — Latine AEVTIM; quod ami- 
quum Graecorum scribendi raodum plane indicat. 

'JFUffyJ02 — v. ccU^Xog — . tenebricosus r — . 
ab ^ privativo et FJEIJJ1 deductum. 

A\-I22JL — v. aiGGw — - ruo — ab A intensive* et 
\IKSl fortasse confictum. 

\AASl -» \AAESl -* « A cm — « A i w , bigt/U,, coU 
ligo, coacervo. 

\AAiIMI spiritu f- omnino scribendum, quod ^ 
collectivum est; unde alia IIsquojv apud Herodotum 1 ); 
etsi eadem vox ab aliis, etiam in insoriptionibus antiquis, 
sine spiritu * AAIA scripta sit 2 ). 

'AAAFJl. 

'AAAFESl. 

' 'AAAFHMI — v. d A a w — uktxXti-fu — coecutire 
vel err are facio ; et 

AATFJ1 — v. aAKw — mente erro vel turbatus 
swm, composita sunt ex ^ privativo et verbis AAFSl, 
AslFESL, AAF/IMIet ATFSl; de quibus infra. 

Rhapsodi et grammatici, cum formas verborum an- 
tiquas nescirent , et vulgatas tamen versibus Homericis 
haud suflicere comperissent, neque diaeresibus hiatus 
supplere potuissent , syllabas quasdam geminabant : at- 
que eo modo, cum 'AAAFJIMIin' 'A AHMI contractum 
invenissent, neque pleniorem formam, neque mutatio- 
nis rationem nossent, monstrum illud dkcdiipi compin- 
gebant et inducebant. Ita quoque aliis, quae pari de- 
fectu laborare videbant, percommode succurrebant. 



i) Vide Eustath, p. 179. 

a) Ijiscript. Sic. et Tabula Heracleensis. 



i4b 

'AAEF&. v. d I tv a> — cvrVo — : ex ^ quoque pri- 
vativo et AAFSi , quod et AEF&, ut infra videbimus, 
form a turn. 

*AAOFA$l. v. aUtao) — pw/«o — tundo. 

*AAGFH. v. cUoa — area, in qua contundendo 
triturabatur frumentum. 

F melius, quam /, antiqui sermonis indoli hie con- 
venit: at neutrum tamen ratione aliqua certa, vel aucto- 
ritate suffukum est. 

'AMTFM&N. v.dpvfiwv — egregius — 'AM TT- 
M&N, uul dqiaiQt'aft, tou r 'AMTM&N* Hort. 
Adon. solenni lexicographorum errore xov jfpro F; quae 
enim sequuntur de etymo, ridicula sunt. 

'AMTFN& — v. d/uvpco — defendo — arceo, ex 
r A privativo et exoleto M7FNSI, unde M1FNH, de 
quo infra , compositum. 

FAJSTA&X 

FANA2— aval — rex. 

FANA22SI — u vao a a — regno, Dores Italiae 
BCribebant BANNAZ, F in B mutato , et consona li- 
quida geminata; quod iis solenne fuisse jam antea osten- 
dimus. E terminatione brevi in AZ vocativus Homeri- 
cus FAN A — v. ava formatus est. Significationem 
apud Atticos planam facie Isocrates in Euagora: tojv *| ac- 
tov yevoptvav ovdepa %uxi).L-^tv iduarixolg otouaac nyoci 
Qtvofiivov dXXd rov flip ^aaiXe'a nuXuvpevov , rovg di dva- 
*tuq, rag di dvdaaag: neque alia ki Homericis fuisse vi- 
de tur. 

ANJFA. v. dvlaetuvfia, dolor. dviagov — 
Xeytrat, dviygov. Suid. — i. e. *ANj FPON ex 'ANI- 
FaP ON contr actum, mutatione, jampridem iu Hesychii 
lexico notata, tov Fin JT. 



i47 

\AFOAFHZ — v. uoM.riq, congregatus- -confer- 
tus, ab A collective) et FEslFQ, de quo infra. 

*AFOAK2. v. wl'g — sulcus — pro contractione vo- 
cis ccvXctl habitum; cui tamen ne affine quidem est: at 
ex A intensivo et verbo antiquo FEAFSl — volvo for- 
matum. 

i *A\OP -v.aop- ensis , ab *A\EI&&, atque inde 
*A\OPTHP , loru/n quo appendebatur , etc. 
\APAl02. v. kqccioq — rams — tenuis. Recte 
Schol. Ven. daavveTui, to uqucul , lemal " u d£ ipikovuep, 

'APTEIF02. v.'A$y£7og. Latine ARGIVUS an- 
tiquiore adjectivi forma. 

FAPAR — v. uQd(o 9 irrigoy atque inde 

FAPAM02, v. <xQd[iQQ, irrigation 

FAPNEFTHP. v. aQvtvT?JQ t urinator. 

TAP2* v. uQq, agnus , et 

FAPNEI02. v. uQveiog, aries. FAP2, quod in 
casu recto nusquam occurrit , e participio aoristo secun- 
do verbi in MI FAPEN2 contractum esse videtur; un- 
de, elisa priore et producta altera vocali , formata sunt 
apposita nOATFPHNOU, \?IlOFPHN02 y etc.; quae 
tamen in Iliade non nisi in locis interpolatis inveniun- 
tur; sed simplicius et antiquius TIOATFAP2 retentum 
est in nOAJFAPNI BJFESTHL B. 106. 

FAPH. v. dpi), noxa, /?*«£»?— atque inde 

FAPAOMAIveX 

FAPEOMAI — un de 

FEFAPHMEN02. v. ayyusvoQ in Homericis, 
(JtfUupti&vog interpretatum ; quibus radicem fuisse 



1) In Iliad. 2. 411. Sic Aristarchus , Schol. B. in Iliad. E. 4*5» 



credo verbum antiquum FEPPSl, de quo infra; atque 
ab eo fiuxisse nomen vetustissimum Latinum dei Martis, 
BERBER, in Nuraae regis carmine arvali; quod aere 
insculptum, Romae anno p. Ch. n. MDCCLXXVIII de- 
fossum est, acpostea, summa et ingenii sagacitate, et 
doctrinae subtilitate ab acutissimo Lanzio interpreta- 
turn *). Id nomen lingua ac Uteris Ionicis FEPFEZ 
fuerit; quo constare puto, nomini APEF2, (sic enim 
ecribi debuerat) F olim praefixum fuisse; etiamsi Ho- 
mericis ad hiatum supplendum nusquam requiratur, at 
poetae jam aetate exolevisse videatur. 

FAZTT — v. uqtv — urbs. 

'AYTF& — contractum in 

'ATFS2 — v. uva) — sicco, et metaphorice siccum 
vel raucum sono; ex A privativo et \TFSl — v. i' w, pluo 
i — compositum 2 ): unde 

'A7F02. v. avog — siccus, aridus. 

'AJFAAEOZ — v. aval tog — idem. 

9 A\TFTH — v. dvri] , clamor siccus vel raucus* 

*A\TFTMH — v. uur/ui}, vapor aridus vel siccus, 

*ATFF/F J\02l — v. avlaxog — scno arido vel 
rauco clamoius, compositum ex ATFOZ et FjFAXfl, 
de quo infra. 

\10JP. v. «>«p — statim. ix tov 'AI1TS2, 'A*PSl, 
'110 A yivixui, teste Eustathio 3 ); atque etymi ratio 
constat. 

\AOEX02 — v. uq.ivog — opes, nay ij/*7t> 



i) P. I. C. VIII. S. i. n. i. 

2) *JTQ ynq y to grtfcuyw to 'TfJ to ppi/a' ATQ, /u«r« to* 
otsqijti/.qv A, xttl x(j<ioti ATQ. Suidas in voce. 

3) p. »5& 



i4g 

2>ovt<u, ccMct nocpec ro7g nctkc(io7$ *AzzMo7g daovvw&eu, liyt- 
tcci 1 ): atque ita recte, ut e verbo obsoleto, in Latino- 
rum HABEO latente, emctum ; quod literis antiquioribus 
Pelasgis vel Etroscis HA8EU vel HArEU, i. e. literis 
Graecis \A$ESl vel \AIIESl, fuerit: ridiculum est 
grammaticorum veterum etymon ano ivog. 

'AXAIF02 — i v. *Ai a tog — Latine antiquiore 
modo ACHIVUS. 

A\-J2.P02 — v. ao)Q<yg — intempestivus. Antiqua 
ecuptura 6piritus eidem rationi grammaticae, cui cae-t 
terae literae , obnoxii erant. 

BIF02 — v. plog, vita, e verbo exoleto FIFSZ, 
quod in Latino VIVO adhuc extat, formatum esse puto, 
atque ideo differre a BI02, arcus ; quod, pari literarum 
commutatione e FIZ — VIS effictunx, F non admisit, 

BIFOT02. v. pidrog — victus ~ ut BIF02 
scribendum ; atque eadem ratione verbum 

BIFSl — vivo ; quod jamdudum obsolescere Ho- 
mericis etiam temporibus coepisse videtur: Odysseae 
enim nusquanx et lliadis tribus tantum locis ( II. 852. 
X 45 1. S2. i5i.) occurrit, atque iis foede inquinatum 
rhapsodorum et grammaticorum inscitia , qua cum fitjfii, 
verbo prorsus alieno , confusum est. Alia themata ta- 
men ex eo ellicta, ut 

BIFOSl et 

BIFSLML v*pi6<a et plan* in utroque poemate 
obvia sunt. 

BPI2EFI2. v. BQbon'Lg'. atque ita alia ejusmodi 
patronymica a nominibus masculinis in JE>F2 desinenti- 
bus rescribenda sunt. 



i) Eustath. p. 73. 



i5o 

TAAFKI. v. ylttvl ~ noctua — 

TdAFKOS. v.ylavxog — 

TAAFKIASl, etc. v. ylavxiaco, etc., a verbo 
antiquo r AAFSl, postea AAFSl, AEFSl et AABSl, 
diversis loqu< nui modi's, formata 6unt; atque sensus ejui 
primarii, dittorti scilicet acfucati, vestigia retinent. 

FEPAF02. v. yjpatoj, ae^ex 

TPAFI2 vel rPEFIE — contractum in 

FPAFE vel rPEFE — anus — atque deinde in 
ypi'uV dfaereei vulgo distensum. Vide supra S. XLIV. 

FTF1J2 — v. yv> — tWtor. 

FTFF02. v. yvoog — cujus formam ac eignifica- 
tionem antiquam exprimit Latina vox CURVUS. 

AA^HP — v. dai}$ — levir — ex \AIPSI vel 
\EIPSI — uimo, nuto, formatum esse videtur. 

AAFSl. v. daiot — accendo — unde 

AAFI2. v. datg — taedax et metaphorice pugna, 

AAFN02* v. Savog — ad urendum apt us, 

AAF02— v. ^J? —fax. 

AAFEAOZ contractum in 

JAFA02 et 

AHA02, quod Ionicum ac fortasse Homericum; 
etsi formae antiquiores in dialectis minus cultis apud 
posteros usurparentur. AABEA02, dulog, ./axw- 
veg. AAEAON, diadtjko*. AEEAON , d>~Xor. He- 
sych. trt Xiyet, (HgaxXtidtjg^) xal on AioXelg rw A ngogrt- 
ftivxtg to T, <i)g qr t <nv ^QtOTafjjog nagaTt&tig to ATAP, 

ATTAP' AAA02, AATAOS' TAXEN, 1AT- 
XEN — &A2KJI, &AT2KSI — x«? <PPAT2KSl. 
Eustath. p. i654. 1. 27. Aeoles retinebant literas, qui- 
bus antiqua pronunciandi consuetudo eignincata era'. 



i5i 

non ex arbitrio vel proprio^scribendi more inscribebant, 
ut grammatici somniasse videntur. 

AAFI02 — v. dtji'og, ardens, pugnax, ab eodem, 
item que 

AAFIOSl — v. 6 fit dm, trucido. 

JAISl, divido, a quo AAI2, convivium, ita sem- 
per sine F scrip turn est. 

AEPFSl* v. d s l q co — excorio, pellem detraho. 
AEPBI2THP, ro\%m- nag*) TodtQog, AEPI2THP, 
TilfovuGftw too B. Suidas in voce. 

AAEIASl- v. dtidm — timeo, 

AAISl — v. dim — idem. 

AAE02. v. diog — timor. In vulgaris litera ini- 
tialis repetitur in verborum jugmentis ; ea tamen in- 
constantia, ut aoristus primus sit tddeioa, et praeteritum 
perfectum dtidoma. Alioqui vocalis semper producitur 
ante eamliteram, nisi in locis interpolatis aut mendosis; 
quod haud alia ratione fieri potuerit, quam duplici con- 
eona : nam A e tono vel impetu pronunciandi geminari 
nequit; atque si posset, constantia in eo, quod poetae 
arbitrio, quo ties metro conveniret, non indole linguae 
fiebat, rerum humanarum usui ac consuetudini contraria 
esset. Nomen Zevg vel antiquiore forma ASEFS ejus- 
dem stirpis esse videtur, ac primum significasse sen- 
sum et affectum animi, dum dei optimi maximi, cuncta 
supercilio moventis, speciem ac naturam contemplaretur, 
quern timorem aut pavorem fuisse vix dubitare licet. Ti- 
moris ideoantiqurtsimum nomen Graecum A2EOZ fuisse ^ 
credo atque verba, quibus sensus ejus exprimebatur, A2ISL 
et A2EIAJI ; quae paullatim emollita AAISl et A A EI A SI 
fierent, ac postea dim etdeido); ea ratione, qua nomen 
illud apud Latinos DEUS factum est, commutato scili- 



152 

cet in consonam , ac postea penitus suppresso duro isto 
epiritu 2. Ira 'EPIJJH2A2GAI pro ip&oaa&cu scri- 
ptum est; arque Bneotice, apud Platonem , "ITTSl pro 
igtoi, et alia ejusmodi haud pauca. Deesse exempla, 
aliquis forsitan objiciet, geminatae comonae initio vo- 
cis; neque nnqnam ita scripeisse veteres asserere ausim : 
at non Homerici aevi scripturam, quae fortas6e nulla 
erat, restituendam suscepimus , sed linguam Homeri- 
cam exhibere iis literarura signis, quae usitatissima 
erant, cum ars scribendi apud Graecos jam adulta esset. 
Hac ratione 

A IKTNG02 et 

AEjLEIA ecribenda esse puto pro Zuxvv&og et 
Zt'Xfia; ireraque KA1MN4P02 pro 2xdftavdgog 
(quod in nonnullis codicibus locum obtinet); nam vo- 
calis praecedens nusquam producta est, et in Zanclaeo- 
rum nummis nomen civitati6, quod vulgo ZdyxXt], AA^S - 
KAE inscriptum est. Zaudaei illi Iones fuere, atqueurbs 
eorum a Messeniis e Peloponneso profugis anno a. Cb. 
n. OCLXV1II. capta est , et Messana in posterum dicta. 
Hi nunrmi ita me oranes ante eum annum cusi sunt, et 
6cripturae aniiquissimae lonicae, si non Horaericae, ex- 
empla exhibent. 

AAKPTFON — v. Sdxovov — laeryma. 

A tKPTFJl. v. duxQvw — laerymo. 

AEFSl — v. dt'oj — egeo; quod ita differre vide- 
tur a 4ESI — Hgo. 

MFQ2. v. d 7og. Latine DIVUS: atque in ea lin- 
gua amiquissimas adjectivorum formas extare puto; 
. nisi haud ignorem, probabili quadam ratione J[- 
0£, XI02, etc. e contractione wv J1IOZ, XIIOZ, 



i55 

etc. deduci *) : utraque fortasse e vetustioribus JIIFOZ, 
XIIF02, etc., diversis diversarum dialectorum rationi- 
bus contracta sunt: nami/OI secundus casus zov AI2, 
a quo JIFOZ vel d7og, Fm augmento accipere haud 
potuit, quod a tota stirpe alienum; atque inde 

AIFOFENH2 — v. dioysvijg, divo genitus, pri- 
mam semper longam habet , dum in JIOTPE&H2, 
lope nuiritus : semper brevis est 2 ). 

JPAFSL v. dgdco — facio. 

J2AF02. v, Jw?, ac soluto circumflexu ^woj, 
vivus. 

ASAFJl 

A2EFJI et 

JZHMI — • v. ^oj, gtoco et £iw, 'vivo; unde no- 
men Io vis J2HN, Ztjv, et Dorica pronunciation /IE AN, 
Zuv, hujus verbi participium fuisse credam, atque anti- 
quissimam ejus formam JZEEN2 — vivens. 

JTFJ1. v. dvco, subeo. 

FEJP. v. h'ao. Hesychio TEAP ac Latine VER. 
Prima syllaba in casibus obliquis, quoties e tono et im- 
petu pronunciandi producta sit, toties in EI diphthon- 
gum , grammaticis ac librariis fulcrum solitum inseren- 
tibus, mutata est: perperam: ubicunque enim tres sylla- 
bae breves in unam vocem concurrerent , primam pro- 
ducere licuit. flap, casu recto, poetae recentiores ex 
Homericis male intellectis sibi confinxerunt, et inter alia 
cjusmodi dvwpctXcc ad metrum eupplenduna , quoties ex- 



i) Eustath. p. 436. 

2) to fxlv JIOTPE&R2 avarlXlst rrjv Ugxovaav, wff duo r?js 
J 10 2 yevutrjs* to 3* JlOmNHJS txTeivet, avrtjv } dnd tov 
4102, &#•§•«, Ibid. p. 76. 



1 54 

pedire visum esset, adhibuerunt: vetere9 autem, qui- 
8uum quisque sermonem gentilitium in carminibus tan- 
tum usurpatrerunt , nullam istiusmodi licentiam *ibi 
unquam permittebant; neque, si permisissent, audito- 
res, qui verba tantum usu vulgari trita intelligebant, ac- 
cepissent vel tolerassent. 

'EFAJl. v. iaa) — sino ; at Laconibus ac Syracu- 
siis 'EBASl *), solita literarum corumutatione : ita et 
la, "ETA — I'uaov, 'EBA20N inter Dorismos a Gre- 
gorio Corinthi episcopo et lohanne grammatico recen- 
aentur z ). Inde 

EFAlSlOZ — v. tavog, duct His , flexitis — dum 

FEAN02 — indusium , iisdem liten's vulgo scri- 
ptum, ab FESlj alias FE22SL, de quo infra, dedu- 
ctum est. 

FEJNON — v. tdvov et iidvov — dos. Vide 
supra in FAJSL 

FEIKOZI — v. i7xo(Tietitlxoai — viginti. In 
tab. Heracleensi LIKATIi quam formam antiquissi- 
mam puto , et in carmina Homerica recipiendam fortas- 
se; sed cum F praenxum metro suinceret, vulgata et 
jamdudam recepta mutare nolui. 

FEU 02 — v. eldog — species. 

FEUEll 

FEIJS1 — v. tidtw — t i'du) — scio, video; unde 
praeteritum Aeolica i. e. antiqua forma 

FEEOI/JAi et sine augmento, quod usiratius, 

FOIJA. Latina vox VIDEO alia forma ejusdem 
est, qua antiquus 6cribendi modus plane indicatur, ut 



j) Hesych. 

-) S. CLVII- VIII. ct Roen. not. 



i55 

in Hesychiano quoque FOUHMAL in I a rctfi at,. Sen- 
sus itaque nominis 'AFI4H2, quodAttici m'Atdriv cor- 
ruperunt , non alius est quam INVISIBILIS. Plusquam- 
perfectum , quod recentiorum scriptura jjdea est , ex eo- 
rum modo pronunciandi ore constrictiore profecta , ju- 
staanalogia J^O/z/i£4> amputato augmento, esse debuerat; 
atque ita nobis rescribendum in Homericis videtur. 

Ejusdem stirpis esse videntur 

FEI2KSI. v. itoxm, adsimulo. 

FEIKSl — v. etna — similis sum: — atque item 

FI2F02 — v. laog — aequalis. Hesychio IY_ 
2TON, I gov; ex. BIO P — tuwg' yfuxuveg. In tabula 
tamen Heracleensi est \I202$ sculp toris errore an 
gentis idiomate , incertum ; contra analogiam certe. 

\EAFLSl — \E\OAttA, etc. v. ilnta, i'oXncc, 
etc. spero : Bentleio FEAIISl, FEFOAllA, etc. quod 
metro haud necessarium auctoritati obstat; nam in titu- 
lo antiquo nomen Graecum ab hoc verbo plane dedu- 
ctum , Latinis literis HELPIS inscriptum est x ). 

FHGOS. v.j&og, etc. 

FEG02 — v. Z# og — mos. 

FEQSl — FEFJ1GA pro antiquiore IEFOOKA, 
extrusa consona et producta vocali Ionum more, v. J'#w, 
{tati-a, etc, consuesco; unde 

FEGN02. v.i'&vog, gens, natio: atque 
FEGETPA. v. i&eiQcc — coma, i&ugaol cti *jj 
i&ovg inifiekov^evat rglx^g* Suid. 
FOGONH. v.o&ovn — stola. 
FEAFSl. v.* a w . 
FEAFESl. v. ilXdw* 



i) MINDIA HELPIS. Winkelmanii. Hist. Art. 1. IV. c. VII 



i56 

I'EAFYSl. v. tllvm, Latine VOLVO; quod non 

aliud est ijuam Graeca forma antiqua; unde 

F0AF02. v. ovXoq, crispy s 9 tortus, rotundas^ 
et Latinorunx vox VULGUS ; atque item 

FOAFAM02 — v. ovlufiog, caterva. 
*ESEiSl — v. "Emu — Bellona, atque inde 
'ENEFAAI02. v. 'Ewuktog — Mars. In vase 
fictili a Mazzochio edito, ' ESETAAI02\ utrumque a 
verbo antiquo 'ESAFSl, *ENEFJl, vel ivavuy, de 
quo vide Eustath. p. i4o. formatum; unde etiam SE- 
KTSet verba Latina ENECO etNECO origineni habuis- 
se videntur. 

FEPlISl thema antiquissimum esse credo verbi, 
cujus futurum secundum vel Ionicum 

FEPESl. v.zoe'oj, dicam, in Homericis frequcn- 
tissimum est; ratione eadem emctum, qua TTilESl e 
TTllTSli ita ut Latina vox VERBUAI idem sit ac Grae- 
cum (j i t u a — i. e. 
FJ J IIMyl, atque 

FEZLLSl — v. f t'nu), cujus antiqua forma una tan- 
tum 6ententiola , ianm i act* 1 )* a rhapsodis et 

librariis asservata est, idem ac FEP11J1* alia dialecto, 
qua to 2 locum zov P obiinebat. In aoristo secundo sub- 
junctivi 6cilbcndum est 

FEIISi pro v. t\ no} — ct in praeterito perfecto pas- 
sivo alterius thematis 

FEFEPTM pro v. e?p?;ra<, quod ab alio verbo 
iiQtoucti, rogo, acceptum est. 

FPHTON — v. f»/roi/ — dictum — Laconice 
BPHTOX, 



i) II. B. 46 h J- 213. ? 503. n. 31: 



FPHTPA — v. Q7jt q a — pactio, 

FPHTHP — • v. QrjTtjQ < — . orator < — Laconice 
JBPHTHP, producta altera vocali, e priore elisa , for- 
mata esse videntur. Ejusdem stirpis sunt composita 
'ENEml, 'ENllTLSl, "ENJZ1SI, 'EN1IIS2> 'ENII1ATISI, 
3 'ENENI2 11 & etc.; quae, varie elisis spiritibus, produ- 
ctia vocalibus, et adscitis augmentis , fonnata sunt. 
'ENJIITfi quoque et *ENLNIIlT£l , eodem sensu, in 
vulgatis Komericorum exemplaribus haud infrequenter 
oceurrunt; 6ed in praestantissimo codice Harleiano 
'EN/IlSl et*ENENlII&, penultima producta, eorum 
locum ubique tenent; et cum NJT1TSI sit verbum pror- 
sus alienum, pro factitiis, et ad linguam fucatam poste* 
rorum pertinentibus habenda videntur. 

FEPPON — v. k'gyov — opus. 

FEPI'Si — praeteritum FEFOPFA. v. eopya, 
facio. 

\EPrSl — \E\EPTA et \E\EPXA — v. J'^w, 
t'igyoi, itgya et ttpycx, arceo : sed antiquiore modo 
cum spiritibus in tabula Heracleensi; atque ita quoque 
in vulgatis nomina ejusdem stirpis ipnos, tppcc, etc. 
ficripta sunt. 

FEPPSl — v. iqq(o , apud Hesychium TEPPSl — 
BAPPEL pereo, pessumeo; Latine VERRO, et anti- 
quius foreitan VERVO ac BERBO: unde nomen anti- 
quissimum dei Martis BERBER in carmine arvali x ). 
Aliter tamen Alexandrini , qui dialectos antiquas , prae-. 
sertim ltalicas , nesciebant — i^skofievot htivov ovico xa&\ 



i) Romae effoss. aim. i778» et inira sagacitate a viro doctks'u 
mo Ludovico Lanzio interpretat. in Saggi spfra la lingua 
morte J 1 Italia. Vol. I. p. 142. 



i58 

*HQMt\*ldqv ' inudt} tx tov &&EIPSI ylvnav to 'EPPSZ — 
nagiffii tov xal 0. i'diov yag '/wvotv xat Aiolmv xa ra>v 

kdfW TIQWTCC GV(A.(fO)t>« UlQtlV , llTt £ P TV'/Ot, OV, OlOV AAI" 

WHP02, AI X VHP02- thi duo, TLAETPAZ, ETPA^ 
k. t. X. — ovvto yovp xal 0SEIPSI , EIP& , «| ou ^/oA*- 
ws'EPPSl- ugKEIPSl, KEPPSl' AE/PS2, AEPP&> 
x.t. A. x j) Judicet lector: sed speciosa magis quam va- 
lida haec mihi videntur. 

FEPTSi — v. ipvo), et 

FEPTA2& — v. igvCo>y trako — rerbum mire 
corruptum rhapsodorum et grammaticorum licentia ; et 
cum 'PTFQ, v. gvto, tueor, perpetuo confusum. 

FE22SI — - v. i'oou) et 

FENNTMI —v. twvuc — Latine VESTIO: atque 
inde 

FERGUS — • v. ta & v g et 

FEZMA — v. tTfia — vestimentum. 

FETOZ — v. i'rog — Heaychio TETOZ, atque in 
tabula Heracleensi EET02 — annus : unde Latinum 
VETUS et VETUSTUS, idem quod ANNOSUS. 

FE2IIEP02. v. tontQog — Latine VESPER. 

\ETEOZ.v. ireog, 

\ETTM02. v. i v v u o g , et 

\ETHTTM02. v. irtjTVfiog, verus > ejusdem stir- 
pis, cujus \ETH2, \ETAlPOZ, etc. 

\E2XSl, et amputata syllaba ZXSl, et eliso 2*, 

YEXS2. v. *"j£W, futuro i£m, habeoi at in aliis per- 
inde temporibus adhiberi debuerat 6piritus; quem 
in Homericis versus saepe postulat. Hinc 

\OXEFZ — v.ogti/ff, pessulus, retinaculum; atque 



i) Eustath. p. i647- 1- 42. etc. 



i59 

\OX®H — v. o%&ri, ripa. 

'HjFON — * v. ycov — viaticum, more adjectivorum 
Latinorum, qui est item Graecorum antiquissimus , e 
vexbo 'EISI, 'EIMI, eo, effictum. 

\HMAP — v. tjftap — dies; sed ?/ p £q a semper 
cum spiritu aspero in omnibus dialectis; et rj [.iccq item 
in Attica vetere. 

\HKA. v. ^x«, Attice »Jjca, lente, quiete, unde 
TJttioia, quod spiritum asperum nusquam non habuit.. 

FHNOTI2 — ri v o ijj — splendidus : contractum 
fortasse Ionice ex FOINOTI2. v. olvoyj, quod eodem 
sensu usurpatur; atque ideo Homericis, ut antiquius, 
restituendum. 

\HPION—v. n q to v, tumulus, ab \A1PSI — \HPA. 

FHXH. v. r] x n — sonitus. 

FHXE& — tjxta — sono. 

GAFA22&. v.^Kftffaw- sedeo; et inde 

GAFAK02. v.^wxo? etti 6(o%og, consessus, 

SAFEOMAI. v.&suopab — video — miror : Io- 
nice SHESl; etsi 

0AFMA. v. <&ctvpcc — miraculum — formam ab 
antiquo themate obtinuit, atque in omnibus dialectis, 
mutato tantum F in T, conservavit. 

GEFSl — v. #iw et &tl(o — Aeolice &tvu f ) — ' 
curro; atque inde 

eOFOZ. v.&oog — velox. 

GTF&. v. &v(o, ruo, ferveo, sacrifice-. 

FlFAXSZ. v. id%(0 — idem quod FHXE&; adscito 
augmento , ut in IU&AFZKSl a 0AF& et compluribus 
aliis. 



i) Gregor. Cor. ep. de Dial. Aeol. S. XXXVU- 



i6o 

\IAFSl v. Imm — vaco vel ore aperto re&piro. La- 
tine HIO, HIARE; et antiquiore fortasse 6ernaoneHIAO 
et HIAVO. 

F/FAOMAI. v. i don at — medeor ■ ) ; et 

FjFHTHP. v. /;;r?Jo — medicus — verbo Latino 
VIVO cognata esse videntur; atque ab 

FI2 — v. Tg % Latine VIS, deducta; unde elium 

F/1WON. v. h>iov — ntrvusy 

F/2XX2* v. toxvg — rubur — vis tenentH — La- 
tine VISCUS — Hesychio JV-iA fcZV et B12XTN — frjwrj 
ex FIZ et \LXSl confictum : 

Fj&f. v. l<p$ — firtiter, etc. to^uanatui c 
'££. 'JN02 — '/XO0I, mg X.L1KOZ — X I — 

XAAKLxIW tmlMKtum /'/>/. 2 ) 

Priorem itaque longain habet semper; ut ex Fj^\U>/ t <-li- 
sa consona et producta vocali, contractum. iqdipoq 
autcm, ut alia composita quamplurima, Fin initio baud 
recepis8e videtur. 

FLAFEF2 — nomen patris Ajacis minoris , v. 
livg, a Zenodoto autem J/.n ', ^criptum , quemadni jdurn 
apud Hesioduin, Stcbichorum , et l'indarum aatea 
stiterat. 3 ) i'saepein Oabiit; ut in nomine flnminif 
et urbis in Creta insula , quod in nummia est FASuZ — 
FASlSlXx 4) at Virgilio OAXUS — 

et rapidum Cretae vtniemus Oaxum s ). 



i xoTft r* yriora$- xal dvetX&i'a taoao&ni , i. e. FlF.i- 
7. Aretini jo. fragni. apud Heyn. supplend. 

in II. A. 515. Vol. \ I. 
2) Schol. Ven. in U. A. 151. 

*>) Vide Heyne in II. £. 527. Sic et Lycophron 'itios duuo: vs. 
1150. 

4) Dittens MeJ.ulles. 

5 ) Eclog. I. 66. 



i6i 

\I\HM2. v. Znh ex \ESl — \HMI, mitto, edo, 

protrudo, adscito augmento eodem modo, quo FiFA- 

XX et P^, I1I&AF2KSI e <p^JF», et alia ejus. 

modi, compositum: atque inde 

\I\AMENH. v. eiafisvi] ~ pratum irriguum — 
locus herbas emittens , vel late patens , ut «<*&?} /i iv0 v 
Ttsolov apud recentiore8. 

f-/|-CL£ — v. log — jaculum missile, et, 
\l\OF£I <•- v. /o;?/ — missio vel miss iva. 
FfON* v. i'ov — viola i unde 
FIOFEIAH2 —v.ioetdy g, 
FlOANE&ILS *— v. lodpsq)?jg — et 
FiONQAZ— v.iov&ag. 

FIP1Z. x. r I 9 ig — tfea /r«.5— ayalfia Blgtdog, 
Pausan. in Lacon. e. XIX. 5. 4., i. e. F/JP/A02 Laconi- 
ca dialecto. 

FlTEA. v. *W« — safoc. Hesychio TITEA. 
FITT2 — v. }' r v g — ora aliqua curpa vel flexilis, 
Aeolice K1TT2. 

JY TJZSl — v. I v£(a — clamo — ejusdem stirpis cu- 
jus % A\JFSi % etc. 

\IXBTZ — iy v &vg — piscis — Attice tamen fy#v; r )j 
et ab [-/AJ2 deductum; unde 

\IKMEN02. v. ixfievog — iptiovTcct, to *IKME- 
JVOJZ a. to ztjg ixfiddog, bit, di x<u duGVvnat, tiuqu to 'IKEi 
26 AI 2 ). 

KAFSl — v. net I (a — uro. Antigua autem forma 
6« ostendit in 



i) Aul. Gell. lib. II. c. IIL 
2) EustAth. p. i38. 



l62 

KAFMA. v. xuvfiu — color, 

KAF2TEIP02. v. xavove iqoq — ardens, etc. 

KAAFSl — v. xluio) — fleo , at prisca forma in 
aoristo 

KAAF2A — v. xKuvo ui et in futuro passivo 

KAAFZOMAI — v. x/.uu ao put, adhuc obtinet; 
atque item in nomine 

KAAFSMOZ — xlavdfiJg— flelus. 

KAEFfZ. — v. it A n tg. Latine CLAVIS. 

KATFn, quod et KATMI — v. xAi/'oj — audio. 

K1SAFQ -v.xvaoj^ gy «/•», et xvaiiu: unde 
KNHMI, scabo. 

KPAFAIXSI — v. x p a t a i v a> — perficio ; e XP^- 
,F/2, spiritu leni Ionum KPAFSl pronunciato, compo- 
situm. 

KPO& l/Xll. v. xpoat'vo) — pulso — et 

KPOT \ OX — v. x o o v » 6 q — torrens, utrumque e 
verbo antiquo KPOFSl efTlctum. 

K7FA?\0Z. v. xvavoQ — color nigricans, 

ATFJOS, etc. v. xv do 5, etc. gloria, 

A TFMA — v. x u a — in. da j 

ASIA TF.Q — v. ummvm — lamentor, et 

K UK 7FT0Z. v. x en uvrig, lamenlatio , omnia e 
verbo exokto A'TFSl confieta; quod alio pronunciandi 
modo KTBSl, atque inde KTTlTSi fiebat. 

-L/FS2 — v. I mm, prehendo, vel manibus, vel 
oculis* vel alia quaeunque ratione: Aeolice i avw ; at- 
que alia pronunciandi consuetudine AABSl , e quo in- 
nuraera fluxerunt ; ut 

AAFA2 — AAFS —v.Xaag, XZq — lapis, 

AAFlNIX— v. Xaiyl — lapillus, 

AJFOS — v. A « of — Attice i*»f , popidus. 



i6 5 

AAFP02 — v. lavpog — lotus — capax, 
AAFEPTH2 — v. slaiQT Vg ; atque ita alia no- 
mina ex eodem cornposita; 

AAFISIN— et AAFlTEPOS — v. Xco^v et l^l- 
rtgog — potior , optabilior; cujus accusatfvum AA- 
FWNA, in I coco contractum, notabile praestet exem~ 
plum ejusmodi licentiae in Atticorum sermone. Vide 
Sophocl. Philoct. 1079. 

AEFKOZ. v. levxog— albus. 

AEF2Z2Q — v. I i v a a w — specto, cujus verbi 
formam antiquissimam fuisse credo rAAFSZSl^ ut tov 
AAFSl, TAAF&i e quo TAAFK2 v. ylav'e, atque item 
TAAFKSITLI2, epithetonMinervae; quod neque caesios 
neque noctuae ocu Zos significat ; sed oculos plfnTtxovg, 
ev oyuTOvg , vel tfinvgov tv (Hen ovt ag, nagd to 
rAAT22f£, dcp 00 xul rAATZ; ut recte inter- 
pretati sunt grammaticorum veterum nonnujli apud Eu- 
etath. p. 06, et 1202, 1. 9. 

AEFllJS 1 — v. \tu)v — leo — ab eodem, 

AEFOZ — v. A f log — Latine LEVIS. 

AE1M02. v. Xifiog — fames — a AEIII&. 

AOF& — v. X v co — Latine LAVO : cum enim 
Etrusci veteres literam O non habuissent, locum ejus in 
sermonibus semibarbaris Italiae modo A, modo U obti- 
nebat. 

ATFSl — v. X v o) — a quo vocabula Latina LI- 
BER, LIBET, LIBERO, etc.; itemquenomenEtruscum 
WEISVI in titulo sepulchrali x ). 

MAFSl — v. fA. u co — cupio vehementer , impetu 
feror, unde nomen Latinum MAVORS, postea in MARS 



1 ) Lanzi Vol. II. pag. 439, No. 396, 

L 2 



104 

contractum ; quod non aliud quam participium hujus 
verbi, more antiquo ac semibarbaro formatum , fuisse 
videtur. MEMAF&Z fit avarolp , xitAEAHK&Z et AE- 
AAKS12 e AHKSl vel AHKE& , MEMAXfLZ e jtfff- 
AT^vel MHKAS2, etc. 

MHNlFSl. v. fly via), penultima longa, irascor — e 
MIINJ2 — ira, antiqui sermonis consuetudine in ver- 
bis et adjectivia e nominibus fingendis, efRctum. 

MOFZA — v. Movaa — Musa — a verbo exoleto 
MOFSl , in Latinorum MOVEO asservato , deductum. 

MTF& — v. ft v o> — elaudo — comprinw ; unde 

MTFEA02. v. pvtlog — medulla. 

MTFS2N — v. fi v o) v — muscuhis. 

MTFjVIf — v. fivvtj — excusatio — liaesitatio* 

JIIIFT/A — v. uvlu — musccu 

MT&&02. v. [tv&og — svrmo — fabula; etc 

NAF2—NAFu2l—y. vuvg , viog, *»;o; t etAttice 
t>i(og— riavis eXAFJZ, NAF/AOZioxtzsse contractual; 
quod plenum et integrum in nomine Lacedaemoniorum 
tyranni NABIS , ut in Latino etiam vocabulo NAVIS, 
extitisse videtur. Formatum est e verbo 

NAFQ — v. v a<ji — quod et 

AAFESI — v. vn'tui, impleo, coacervo; unde 
quo que 

NAFOS. v. v u 6 g — - tern-plum ; quod Ionice ac for- 
tasse Homerice AIIOZ; priorem enim semper produ- 
ctam habet. Templa antiquissima Graecis cognita the- 
sauri sive donaria fuerunt; loca in quibus dona diis sa- 
crata reponebantur et religiose asservabantur. 

Ab eadem radice quam plurima alia , praesertim no- 
mina composita, tarn hominum quam rerum, derivata 
sunt; quae eadem ratione cum F scribenda erunt ; nisi 



i65 

ubi Ionica pronunciatio, quae rw H pro AF 6ignifkatur, 
potior et magis Homerica visa sit. 

NEF02. v. vtog -— Latin e NO VUS. 

\OAP. v. quq — uxory ex O copulativo, quod re- 
cte J-O. 

'OFA2 — v. ovg — auris; secundus tarn en casus 
est in vulgaris ovcctoq; cujus rationem grammatici suo 
more reddunt — '/covix^v iniv&taiv i'^st, tov T' sv&na yap 
ccvtov iviv.r, OA2 xad ? 'Hgoidiavov , cog 00 A2. Eustath. p. 
1896.I.4. *OFslTOENTA> auritum, quod inHornericis in 
wTtofvza vulgo contractumest,antiquiore integra forma, 
et mutata tantum litera obsoleta, ouaroevTcc laycov, 
in epigrammatis fragmento apud Suidam v. Xaycog asser- 
vatur; ubi adaeque contractum esse, si secunda versus 
elegiaci penthemimeris spondeum admisisset. 

> OFl2. Latine OVIS. Saepe in obliquis casibus di- 
syllabum est , priore ancipiti ; OF: 102 'OFIE2I etc. 
pronunciatur; ut in Virgilianis PAR:IETIBUS, AR: 
1ETE, etc. Sic et AirTIITiIOI, \I2T:IAIA, etc. Io- 
ta spiritus lenis vice fungitur. 

'OAON2. v. 66 ovg: at Ionice odcov (Herodot. VI. c. 
107.x utrumque ab antiquiore 'OAONE'-, unde Latinum 
DENS ; atque in obliquis casibus 'OAONT02, 'OAONTT, 
etc. Participia, quae terminationem in i2iV~et sermone 
antiquissimo in 0N2 habuerunt , apud Aeoles recentio- 
res in EI2J 9 et apud antiquiores in EN2Z earn accepe- 
runt "). 

\OAT22EF2 — v.'OdvcTaevg — noted riot (*tv da- 
Guvtrat, napd rtjv odov' vnb rivcov deipdovTcttnctou to odvti- 
aco. Eustath. p. 68. Recte priores ; quos toium episodium 



1 ) Gramrn. vet, apud Eustath. p, 1755, 



i66 

de Ulyssis apud Autolycum peregrinatione *) repudiasse 
oportuit; quodab'oquin repudiandum, et pro insititio ha- 
bendum es^e, validioribus adductis argumentis, postea 
06tendemu8. Nomina virorum e verbis infaustae signi- 
ficationis usquam apud veteres efficta esse, hand facile 
crediderim; quod ab enrum moribus, et insitis de omi- 
num vi oninionibus , prorsu* abhorret ; neque obstant 
quae tragici de nominibus Homericis commend sunt: 
IA2 iion %%AI\ All 2 ) sed ex eodem fonte quo *AI- 
FUN , 'AjFj-/, etc. defluxit, ut supra ostendimus. 

FOSONH — v. oVo v?j — indusium — a FEOfi. 

\01JEfi. v. o tdt'o) , et 

\OIAANQ — v. o i u u v oj — tumeo. 

\OJJLMA — v. olbti a — tumor. 

FOIKUZ. v. olxog — Latine VICUS. 

FOIKJA. v. alula; sed cum F in tessera Velitr. 

FOJKEQ — v. olxt'o) — habitu, 

FOIKEF2 — V.oixivc — domesticus. 

FOIKJAZSl. v. o/y.t'i'o) — habitarc facio , etc. etc. 

FU/yOS— v. olvog — Hesychio rOJyOZ — La- 
tine V1NUM; unde composila quam plurima eadem ra- 
tione scribenda ; ut 

FOINEfX x.Olvevg, 

FOJS01J2i. v. 1 v i/» ; et recentiorum more loquen- 
di ore strictiore rjvoxp; in quorum usu variant codices. 
Vide Heyn. in Iliad, y. 6*5. 

FOINOFLEAOX — v. i v 6 n td v — vinetum , et*. 
etc. 



1) Odyss. T. 343 — 587- 

2) Ajftc. flagel. 450. ed. Bruiicfc. 



i6 7 

'07FSI — v. ota) et otco penultima longa, puto, au- 
gur or; unde 

'01FIA2SI.V. o?£w, 

'AOIFI2TQ2 — v. ai/fiilVro?, 
OIFSIN02 — v. oiuvog, etc. etc. 

J-0/J2 — 7<?ro; cujus futurum tantum in lingua 
comrauni sine spiritu oigu usurpatur; at forma anti- 
qua in tabula Heracleensi extat; unde 

\OIMA — v. oificc — impetus, 

\OIMA£l — v. oi(4.d(o — impetuferoTy 

\01M02 — v. olfiog — semita, etc.; item que 
\OIAANQ , YOIAMA, etc., de quibus supra. 

YOK2T2. — v. iSvg — acutus — ab \-IKSl. 

\OKTO etc. v. o xrcu etc. at cumnota aspirationis in 
tabula Heracleensi scriptum. 

*OAOFOZ — v. oXoog — noxius — contractum in 

s OAF02 — ovkog — unde 

'OAFOMAI — v. o v X o p a t, — noxius sum ; et 

'OAFTMI — v. okXvfit — per do , occido etc. 

'OAFOXTTAl — v. ovloyvrat — molae salsae 
— a verbo FEAF&, de quo supra, amputato, ut in 
composito, F initiali. nXtovcc&voi, da to Bol £vqccxowwi, 
tog inl to *OABAXNION, to tag ovXag t%ov, Suid. in 
dtQpiGTi'iQ* nota dialectorum ratione, qua idem vo- 
cabulum Homerico eermone 'OAFAXNION fuerit. 

\OMIAF02. v. o fit, log — multitudo conferta, 

\OMIAFESl. v. ouilt'o) — in multitudine versor, 

\OMIAFAAON — v. opUudov — confertim: 
omnia ex \OM02 et FJAFH composita. 

'OIIaF&N — v. onawvy sectator — minister; par- 
ticipium verbi antiqui 'OIIAFS2, cuius forma usitatior 



i68 

'OTIAAZR fui86e videtur, atquc ejusdem stirpis, cu- 
jus Latina vox OPIS. 

FOTLH. v. onrj — et 

FOTI2 1 v. oxp — Latine VOX — i. e. antiqtiioribus 
literis VOKS; quod vocabulum idemdiversa dialecto vel 
alio modo pronunciandi est. Ab FEZTISI^ de quo su- 
pra, originem traxit, perinde atque 

FOZ2A. v. utroa, et 

FOZZOMAL — v. ooaoficcc — quae vocem vel lo- 
quelam quandam interiorem et prophcJcam roenti tan- 
tum intellectam, sensibus baud perceptam, eignificare 
videntur. Male confunditur FOZ1 OMAI cum *O2£0- 
MA1 y inlueor, a doctissimo Heyne in II. A* io5. 

y 'OTiMA — v. o (.i fxa — Aeolicc g.t net — ocuhis . a 
vexho^OlITQ, eadem ratione qua alia ejusmodi nomina 
eflfictum, atque paullatim in diverts dialectic 
emollitum; ita ut Jones et Attici to 77 in to M% atque 
Acolr* to J/ in rj 77 pronunciando colliqnefaeercnt. 

\OQPA— 1r. oqga — est autem yo Ell! PA, aru- 
jus initio apirittu a^per abscissus est e recentiorum usu 
ob subsequotnm. 

'OPOFA — v. ,] uo i(o — ruo. Pimphjlm, teste He- 
raclide apud Eustath. p. 1 654. 1. 22., 'OPOB12: ita enim 
legendura, non oyorJu, . ut in editis. 

TI 4FSI v. Train) — cessare vel guiescere facio — 
ex AF, retro , compositum. 

JIEJIIFOX —wziidiXov — cakeus — eTIEJOy 
et FEAFfi compositum. 

II/FS2 — v. n I co — Latine BIBO, commutatis ii« 
tantum Uteris, quae in dialectorum variatione commutari 
solent; eadem ratione scribenda item 



1% 

TLIFAP — V, ntttQ — pinguedO) 

IIIFSIN — v. 7r iw v — pinguis, 

IIIFAAK2 — v; nldcc£ — fons , etc. etc. 

HALF SI — v. n X tea — navigo — quod et IIAH- 
Mlet IIASIMI variation e haud insolita. Hinc 

HAEFIAEZ. — v.nXii'idsQ — astra, quae navigan- 
di tempus indicabant. 

UNEFSl — v. Tiviioetnvflw, spiro : unde 

TLNEFmA — spiritus; cujus antiqua forma paullu- 
lum immutata in vulg. nvevpu asservatur; 

UNOFH — v . n votri — flatus, etc. etc. 

UPHQN — v. tiqwv, jugum vel cacumen , et so- 
luto circumflexu, grammaticorum more, nQwatv: at 
nPHSIN, e nPO^EESlN vel IIPO\-HK&N forte con- 
tracture! , in Scuto Heracl., apud Hesych. etc. ; neque du- 
riorem istam contractionem in tzqiov poetae antiquissi- 
mo innotuisse, facile credam. Simili ratione 
IIPO\IK2. — v.uqqII — gratia, et 
IIPO\-IKTH£.— v. n potter rig — mendicus, eUPO^ 
\IK& vel HPO\l\HMI formata esse videntur. 

U2AF& — v. yjavco — contingo — rado — unde 
HZ AFP — v. yap, Ionice \ptjg — sturnus, 
TL2EFA02 — v. ipevdog — mendacium, 
T12EFAR — v. \pevdo) — mentior, etc. etc, 
JJZTFXH — v. ipvx*} — anima, 
H2TFX&. — v. ipvxa) — flo vel spiro, etc. 
HZTFXOZ. — v. %pv%og — f'igus ex aura vel 

flatu, etc., e verbo \TFSl deducenda esse videntur; at- 

que item 

JITTFS2 — v. tit vat — spuo , et 
JJTTFON — v. ntvov — ventilahrum, etc. 



170 

FPANTSl — V. Quyi<a — La tine FRANGO — 
unde 

FPHTNTMI — v. Qi)yvvui> 

FPH22SI — v. ^'(jffw, 

FPHrMIN vel 

FPfiTMIZ — v. fafplvj 7vog — littus uhiun- 
dae allidurUur et J-ranguntur 1 vetustiore fortasse forma 
FPHTM1NZ : IN / 6 

FPAKQ2 — v. ^axoc — Aeolice fiouxog — fe- 
sfo's lacerci , 

FPAXIZ — v. puxtg — spina dor si, 

FPIirOZ — v. yrj/og — stragulum superficiein- 
aequali variatum: Angiice RUG. 

FPHTTUZ — v. qi)%tqs — qui rumpi vel fran- 
gi potest. 

FPlirZHKSlP — v. (itiltvoiQ — qui virorum or- 
dines perrumpit. 

FPAJZSl — v. paZw, 

FPAIXSl — v. Qaiv 0), 

FPAI& — v. () a i to — spar go , disperdo ; 

FPAJlXOZ — v. (tabtvog — Aeolice p oa di vog 
*— gracilis, 

FPASAJf7.\rZ — Qtt&d/itiy!; — gutta — aspergo ; 

FPOJlOX—v. (jodov — Aeolice § god ov — rosa, 

FPOJA — v. qoiu — malum punicum. 

FPOIBJLfl — v. (joipdiio — sono rauco vel fra- 

cto alsorbeo vel diglutio. 

FPOUZOZ — v. QolSog — stridor raucus vel 
fractus, 

FPOIJ2ESZ — v. yoiZi'u) — ejusmodi stridor em 

cdo; 

FPOIlAAOy — v. Qonalov — clava; 



1 7 1 

FPOX&ESI — v. $o%&£(o — strepo'sono aspero 
etfracto ; 

FPSirS — v. pw£ — avuhum vel abruptum ali- 
quid, atque ita gradus vel scala ; 

Fp&rAAE02 — v. Qwyctliog — later — ru- 

ptus ; 

FPQXM02 — v. Q(a%fi6q — ruptura — fissura. 
PEFA — v. (5«aet qs~iu — facile, 
PEFUI02 — v. Qiftdtog — facilis, 
PEFIZTOZ — v. ()i]iarog r— facillimus, etc. t 
verbo fortasse 

PEFSl — v. p e'<u — fluo : unde vocabulum Lati- 
num RIVUS — quod Graece est 

POFOZ — v.qooq, contractum in qovq. 

In dialectis Sicelidibus fuere etiam POTNTOS et 
PEI2 vel PEIN2 eodem sensu x ) ; in quibus vocis evy- 
qovq vestigia antiquae et Homericae formae indagasse 
mihi videor : quam fuisse credo 

\ETPEFN2 — contractum e participio antiquo 
thematis in MI, \ETPEFEN2i atque in casu secundo 
scribendum ideo 

\ETPEFNT02 pro v. iVyy^og; quod geminato P 
et inserto I more solenni grammatici confinxerunt: sed 
litera P, ut caeterae liquidae , pronunciando geminari 
potest: et iota istud, metri causa insertum, grammati- 
corum commentum et librariorum est, poetae ignotum. 
Eadem ratione et 

\ETPEFNTH2~ fv^elr^g in v. factum est. 

FPIA20&, — v. 0*£ow, et 



i) .Torrerouzzi Inscript. Sic. Class. VIIT. No. XI* 



FPIA2A. — r. Ql£a-- radix, Aeolice pol£a; 

FPIN — v. qIv — nasus — antiquissima forsitan 
lingua FPINZ \INTOZ\ 

FPINOZ — v. (jivog — cutis, etc. etc. 

FPION — v. qIov — promontorium > cacumen: 
quae Omnia e verbo exoleto FPISl efficta videntur. 

ZAOZ. v. oujq, et soluto circumflexu aoog — salvus, 

2ASI — v.uw ; et 

2AOSI — v. ffolfii — salvo. Latina rocabula SAL- 
VUS et SALVO antiquiseimas Graecorum formas exhi- 
bere vix dubitare licet; unde manifeste apparet, licen- 
tiam contrahendi haud parce grassatam esse , etiam Ho- 
mericis temporibus, quoniam in carminibus priorem 
temper correptam habent. 

2EFSI — v. a e v (a — agito , persequor ; ejusdem 
etirpis ac Latinum SAEVIO : unde 

HOF&. v. 06(0 etaopo) eodem sensu; atque 

20F02. v. aoog — in compositis AAFo<±\ZOF02. 
v. laoaaoog , concitator populi, etc. tantum usurpa- 
tum. Vocalis ante 2AJFSI semper producta est in Ho- 
mericis; qua constantia duplicem fuisse spiritual pro- 
nunciation antiqua conjicere licet. 

2IFAA02. v. a la log — saginatus — pinguetu- 
dineflorens; unde vexatissima vox 

SiWAAOENS. v. aiyakoiig — splendidus , w- 
rius , deducta esse videtur; ut ZIAAQ^U, ^oixUat, 
apud Hesychium. Vid. Heyne in Iliad. E. 226. 

2TEFSI —v.9vtvm — stare facio ; quod et 2TESI, 
2T/fJ//variatione solita. 

ZTE&3TA — oTfpficc — corona , infula — e 27!ff- 
<p&, emollito in J/; ut 71 in 6^u/i« pro antiquiore 
"OITMA. Vide supra. 



i 7 5 

2TAFA& — v. gvKuoj, et 

2TAFEFQ — v. ovleva — praedor — spolio; 
verbum a venatu translatum , et ex antiquiesima vocis 
Y TAFH v. v X n forma , quam 2TAFA fuisse , vocabu- 
lum Latinum SYLVA plane demonstrat, efrictum. 

TEAEFfi — v. Tslelco pro reh'w, inserto iota, 
jinio. 

TIF&. v. vita — aestimo —~luo, 

TJFEQ. v. Tieo) — poena vel dolor e officio , eo f 
quo f acinus aliquod luit aliquis, inde 

TIFMH — v. r v y, n — honor , pretium 5 

TIFMASI — v.T^dw — honoro , etc. 

TP&Z : OF02\ cujus feminina 

TPOFI2 et 

TPOFIAZ ', atque, eadem ratione, adjectiva 

TPOFIKOZ: — v. t q w Yu 6 g ; atque eliso K 

TPOF102— v. TQoii'o g, et 

TPOFJH — x. Tpohi; et TQt,avUa(3ws to TPOIHN, 
wg y.ccl AfjlataQyog (fijot, x ). 

TTFAEF2 — v. Tvdevg — et 

TTFAEFIAH2 — v. Tvdeldyg. A verbo QTFSZ 
deducenda esse videntur: nam derivatio a zvr&og admo- 
dum ridicula est, et a veterum usu ac consuetudine 
prorsus aliena* In nonnullis autem dialectis, atque in 
patrio fortasse Diomedis sermone, spiritus asper in ejus- 
modi nominibus locum non habuit; unde in nummo 
argenteo vetustissimo , quern apud v. cl. Vandamme 
Amstelodami vidimus, nomen urbis, quod vulgo QU- 
IZ AI, TEBE inscriptum est; et in lebete aeneo, agro 



1) Schol. Harl, in Odyss. A< £09, 



i 7 4 

Cumano effosso , et inter xuptjlia nostra asservato, no- 
men 'En/STiZ, 'EI11TT1Z. 

0AFSI — quod et 0H31I — v. quo) — luceo; at- 
que inde ostendo , dico. Vide supra in [AFS2, etc. 

0AFOZ — v. yaog — (pug, et distracto circum- 
flexu q, 6 a) g , lux, lumen , unde 

AT Ely 02 — v. yativog, splendid us , et 
0aFE1XS^ — v. cfjv.il via — splendeo ; cujus ao- 
ristum primum passivum 

0AFEN9EN, ex *E$AFEN%H2AN contracture, 
et vulgo (puav&tp sci iptum, grammatici suo more e 
yalvoi, tyuvdrjoav, yav&tVy et inserto A, aut dis- 
tracto circumflexu (haud multum interest) quav&tv 
deducunt. 

0PEFAP — v.qtQtaQ et inserto iota pptTttp, pu- 
teus, ex EII1 et PEFSi compositum. 

0TFI2 — v. <j v to — gignO) pario, unde 
071 'A OX. v. qvlov. 

TFAFOIT12—V. <iv\o7iiqe0 TFAOXet F0TI2, 
de quo supra, compositum. 
0TF//X. v. q 
0TF2/2. v. (jiltf, 
0TFSAS2. v. p vouch, etmulta alia. 
XAFSl — a quo usitatius 
XAAZSl — v. x<t£ui — locum do — - et 
XAFXSl — v. % v. I via — hisco — hio ; unde 
XAFX02. — v. xavvog* laxus, hians, apud Pin- 
darum, et 

XAF02. v. xuog — 7iiatus; atque item 
XEFA — v. %( la — latibulum cavum, 
XEFSl — v. ^'w, £*/* et jr * i) at — jund. , 
cuum do , unde 



i 7 s 

XEFMA — v. x t vf* « — fusio, 

XOFAN02 — v.pavo? — fornax, 

XOFH — v. %qi], libatio ; atque item AXEF&N. 

XNOF02 — v. i v 6 o g et postea %vovg — lanugo — 
a KNAFSl. 

XPAFSl —• v.^Rfl) et y q a v w — stringo —ferio. 

XPEFSi — • v. yqeio) *—- praebeo — - utendum do$ 
unde XPHMI, a quo XPZT, oportet, etc. XPEFSl, 
opus, necessitas , v. ^p^cJ et ^p* »: at semper in Ho- 
mericis disyllabum; atque ubi aliter usurpatum occurrit, 
XPII, quod perinde cum secundo et quarto casu locum 
obtinet in II. H. 108. pro eo recipiendum est* 

XPEF02 -—v. i q £ 7 o q — debitum , ojficium , utili- 
tas, etc. 

ff. CLIV: 

Restant pauca quaedam de re metrica antiquissi- 
morum poetarum dicenda; quibus discrimina litera- 
rum, et singularum vim diversam in syllabis aut brevi- 
bus aut longis constituendis, itemque quibusnam versus 
locis ea plus minus valuerit, quatenus nobis cognoscere 
licuit, exponamus. 

§. CLV. 

Literal vocales diversos vocis in loquendo sonos, 
consonae eorum divisiones , liquidae ac spiritus flexion 
nes et modulationes indicant et oculis ostendunt; ita ut 
vocalis expiratione aeris , ore aperto, exprimatur; con- 
eona, ejus retentione, compressis quibusdam oris parti- 
bus; liquida, aliis compressis, aliis apertis, ex impedita, 
haud occlusa voce; spiritus, approximatis tantum, quo 



i;6 

densior et constrictior quodammodo insono edendo ha- 
litus fiat. 

§. CLVI. 

Consonae e partibus oris, qui bus singulae cxpri- 
muntur, in labiales B et 77 , palatiales r et K, et den- 
tales A et Ti distinguuntur; quarum singula6 liquidae 
propriae singulae subeequutae sunt 5 labialis scilicet M, 
dentalis N, et palatiales A tt P ; atque eodem raodo 
item spiritus, labialis nempe <p $ partialis A', et den- 
tales e et 2. 

§. CLVir. 

Pfaeterea inter literas antiquas fuere duo spiritus 
vocales, // et f- ; et F, C vel T: alter densiore sono et 
impetu quodain vehementiorc e faucibus expressus; al- 
ter leniore et COnatrictiorc elHatu , a labiis protrusis ac 
rotundatis promissus, quomodo nostras W. Huuc Aco- 
les, rt'centiores etiarn, rctinebant, ut ex eorum nurumis 
TA-t/Jl>\ inscriptis patct : at illius antiquum signum 
diviserunt Graeci caeteri : et ..dexteram partem supra li- 

teram poncntes psilt-ii notara habebant sinistram 

autem cortiariae illi a^pirat i\»iii- daseJHB M ') , si Pri^cia- 
no fidem habeamus. In nulla tamen inscriptione antiqoa 
nota ista uu.* t invrnta est: nequ. tilitatem depre- 

hendere possumus: quandoquidrm vocalis omnis x quae 
non decor i&i't act, suajite natura ipAq esse debuerat. Usum 
alterius in Italia Graeca perantiquum fuisse. e tabula 
celeberrima itemque nummis Heracleensium patet. 



1) Priscian. lib. I. p. 560. 



*77 

$. CLviir. 

Z, S et *P, binarum literarum siiiguli sunt nexus, 
ut ista librariorum Constantinopolitanorum commenta 
», g, etc.; atque ideo a proposito nostro, in anti- 
qua scriptura restituenda, prorsus aliena. Priscianus 
quidem scribit, „multo molliorem et volubiliorem so- 
nitum habere *P quam BS vel PS" : sed de pronunciatio- 
ne, cum Graeca rum Latina, sui saeculi, p Ch.n. sexti, 
tantum cogitabat grammaticus ille; atque ea in jejunam 
quandam et exilem concinnitatem, ab austera veterum 
grandiloquentia prorsus alienam, jamdudum emollita et 
concisa erat *). 

In ^et *P" secundum locum 2 occupasse in omnibus 
dialectis praeter Doricam, quae signa haec composita 
non accepit, e monumentis adhuc extantibus abunde 
constat; atque ideo, si ratio linguae in testimonium ad- 
mittenda est, locum eundem in Z, quod vetustius est, 
et in antiquissimis Ionum et Atticorum inscriptionibus 
usurpatum, tenuisse debuit. Verumtamen in eo modus 
pronunciandi Doricus latius' apud posteros in sermone 
communi praevaluisse videtur, ita ut grammatici Alexan- 
dria etConstantinopolitani alium non agnoscant, et He- 
rodianus inter errores scribendi audacter enumeret 
ZMTPNA pro 2MTPNA, quod nullius hominis os in 
unum et eundem sonum comprimere possitliteras^z/^f. 
At nihilominus Iones veteres ZMTPNA omnino scribe- 
bant; neque 2MTPNA in nummis ante Caesarum im- 
perium cusis occurrit; unde plane patet, eos signi ele- 
menta ea subaudisse, quae facile pronunciari possent; 
cum Graeci veteres omnes modum scribendi ad usum 



i) De Uteris duplicibus vide Vossiigram. LI. c. XXL 

M 



pronunciandi , cujusque gentis proprium et peculiarem, 
semper et ubique accommodarent, atque ita dialectos 
diversas formarent. Cum igitur J£ ante labialem M 
vel B a quovis facile pronunciari posset, ex iis sic posi- 
tis Iones veteres Z effecisse , non aliter quam £ e K2 
seu XZ, et «F e 5^, TIZ seu 02", mihi pro comperto 
est; atque in eas itaque in Homericis signum illud com- 
positum resolvendum putavi. 

§. CLIX. 

Vocales longae vel duplices H et Si pari ratione for- 
tasse arceri et relegari debebant: at in hac vetustissimi 
6ermoni6 obscuritate paucae 6unt admodum voce?, qua- 
rum elementa sic discernere possumus , ut, quae pro iis 
substituenda essent, certe stiremus: raro enim vocalis 
duplex e binis eiroplicibus compobita est, sed natura 
simplex et brevis ier concii>ioneni , e suppresso spiritu 
vel consona vel alia quacunque litem , facta loi 
Iones enim Homericis etiam temporibus sermonem hac 
rationc emollire jamdudum coepisse, compluribu 
plis supra os tendinitis : Deque .'2, in syllaba finali par- 
ticipii praeteriti perfecli) e binis OO confictum esse, 
ratio grammatica uila suadet, sed potius ex elisione alius 
cujii6dam literae productum; tov J 1 foriasse; si e nomi- 
ne Latino 1S1AVOKS, quod participium verbi .!/_.■ 
fuisse videtur, ariolari liceat. Haud tamen nescius sum. 
titulis pseudo-Amyclaeis \i\esseK4AAIPOEJ: M - i T£ 
AAKEAA1MOQ& . et alia quamplurima eju^dem fari- 
nae, quae e scriniis nebulonis impudenti^simi Four- 
montii, pari inscitia et audacia, Barthelemi nuper pro- 
pagavit. Si KAAAIPOFA, MATEP2 et AAKEAAI- 



l 79 

3I0N2 scripsissent, speciem aliquam veritatis saltern 
mendaciis obduxissentu 

§. CLX, 

11, K et T e vehementiore vel ipyctTixGJTiQtn mo- 
do pronunciandi B, F et A orta esse videntur; atque 
jnde duplicum consonantium potestatis metricae capa- 
ces fieri , in prima saltern pedis syllaba primaeet tertiae 
tlipodiae (et dipodiae in Homericis etiam, pro hac sal- 
tern vice , liceat mihi rationem habere) : aliis enim locis 
baud occurrunt ista ozzi, OTmaig, onnoie, etc.; etsi in 
secunda dipodia obvia sint 'JEJIl KAKON, EAKEl 
lllllTSlN, NHT TE, et alia ejusmodi: nusquam au- 
tem vocalis sic producitur bis in eodem versu, neque in 
alia quam prima syllaba pedis. Veteres plerique consuc- 
tudinem pronunciandi potius quam rationem grammati- 
cam in scribendo sequuti sunt ; et ubicunque litera du- 
plicem potestatem in versu e tono et impetu recitandi 
adepta esset, duplici signo earn notabant, ita ut non so- 
lum \OTTl, \OllllOTE, etc. scriberent, sed AEM- 
MET A, AEslA04>02, etc.; atque constantia procul- 
dubio in hac re omnino retinenda , neque pro levitate 
et inscitia librariorum Constantinopolitanorum , ut in 
vulgatis, deserenda. Rationem grammaticam, ut cer- 
tlorem, notiorem et stabiliorem, nos ubique praetulimus. 

§. CLXI. 

Consonantes simplices B, T, A nulla unquam li- 
centia pronunciandi aut impetu recitandi duplicare de- 
cuit , ita ut syllabam , natura brevem , longam redde- 
rent, nisi ubi tres syllabae breves continuae concurre- 

M 2 



i8o 

rent: ibf enim prima, si priorem in pede locum obtinue- 
rat , ex impetu recitantis semper produci poterat. In 
'E1II JHPON autem, 'ETl AHN , OTAE AHS y 
MAAA AHN, etc. vim zov "E, ex antiquiore forma 
adjectivi AHPOE in Latino SERUS asservata deductam, 
poetae veteres retinuisse videntur; antiquissima enim 
forraa fuit fortasse IAEEPOS vel Sl'EEPOS e verbo 
XIASl vel 2THMI etficta; unde, prout in XfW et 
CUM ex antiquiore jTJETiV Graeci alteram, Latini alte- 
ram literam e duplici retinebant. In A1FASTI AE, 
quod bis tantum occurrit 1 ), licentiae aliquid nomini pro- 
prio e necessitate rei condonandum forte fuit ; ea ratio- 
ne, qua hiatus in <1>JISL)1UA2IAAHI Z ) toleran- 
dus est. 

$. CLXII. 

Liquidae ac spiritus quocunque in loco pedis aut 
versus produci poterant; baud ita tamen, ut privatorum 
arbiuium ab omni consuetudine et usu commoni libe- 
rum ct solutum fui6se credam ; etsi normam aliquam 
stabilire aut legem sancire, qua dirigi debuisset, hodie 
ncsciamus. 

§. CLXIII. 

Nulli unquam poetae, vel Graeco vel Latino, 
labam an re bints consonas corripere licuit: nam io- 
ta penultimum in JimUJOL \I2TIAIA et aliis 
ejnsmndi pro litera muta vel spiritu leni, ut no- 
stras Y in vocibus YES, YET, YEAR, etc. habendum 



1) Iliad, g. 459. P. 123. 

2) Ibid. P. 585. 



i8i 

est, atque pronunciandum AI*TT11T\I0I> \I2Ti 
I Ah A 9 etc. 

§. CLXIV- 

Neque Musae Homericae licitum erat, syllabam pro 
brevi habere, qua vocalem aut binae liquidae, aut liqui- 
da consonae vel spiritui consono subjuncta , aut alia 
quaevis ejusmodi literarum conjunctio excipiebat, nisi 
cum liquida palatialis A vel P consonae adjuncta esset: 
neque obstant norafiolo ^xccfiuvdQOv , ocgtv Zefalag, vlyeo- 
ou Zuxvv&og, etc. nam Iones et Aeoles veteres ea ratio- 
ne , qua in nummis Zanclaeis et Naxiis dANKAE pro 
Zu/xXtj et NAXION pro JSa'iicov scribebant , iMapav- 
dpog, KAMANJPOS; ZiXd*, JEAETA; et Zu*vrtog, 
/IAKTN002 pronunciasse videntur J ), 

§. CLXV. 

Attici et Alexandrini syllabam corripiebant, quavis 
liquida cuivis consonantium II, K, 7\ vel aspiratarum 
<£, X, G, subjuncta, vocalem brevem excipiente; quod 
poetis antiquioribus, quorum sermo gravior, unctior et 
tardior incedebat, neutiquam licuit : unde Batrachomyo- 
machiam, ludicram istam Homericorum imitationem, 
quae ejusmodi licentiis scatet, ab Attici cujusdam, ele- 



i) TQonjj rov Z sis J Alohxvlsy wottsq ZTrOZ Jrr02. 
Scliol. Ven. L. in II. B. 191. Ionicae tamen stirpis erant co- 
loniae Sicilienses, quarum nummi hie citantur. Anno prirao 
Olympiadis LXXVI. Hiero Syracusanorum tyrannus veteres 
incolas Ionas e Naxo iu Leontium migrate coegit, et Dores 
e Pelopoivneso et Syracusis induxit : quorum nummis nomen 
more seriore NAZI&N vel NJSION inscriptum est. Vide 
Diod. Sic. 1. XI. 4 9 . 



ifcj 

gantioris quam doctioris poetae , ingenio profectam eesej 
haud multo ante tragicoram tempora, nullum dubito. 

§. CLXVf. 

Vetustissimis autem poetis vocalem longam, atque 
etiam diphthongum , ante vocalem brevem elidere li- 
cuii; quod Atticis nequaquam in carmine serio licuisse 
videtur: eorum enim sermonc vocalis longa vel di- 
phthongua in fine vocis, vocalem brevem ab initio subse- 
quentis , craei , quae sua natura longa est , semper ab- 
sorbcbat: atque id fieri credo ex Attica pronunciandi 
consuetudine, qua ictus vel emphasis in ultimam vocis 
syllabam diiYorebatur; ita ut IAF02 fieret JLS12, 
A//0-T- \7'J7.1\ etc.; unde stabilior, firmior et eli- 
sioni minus obnoxia ea syllaba reddebatur. Contrarium 
prorsus fuisse Latinorum pronunciandi morem, plane 
ostendunt ea, quae Quintilianus de eorum vitio 6olenni 
tradidit ; ,.plerisque nempe extremas syllabas non profe- 
rentibus, dum priorum sono indulgeant" 1 ,). Neque alia 
ratio durissimae isti^ elisionis literae M reddenda vide- 
tur; quam tamen non omnino f.xemtam fuisse in lo- 
quendo ct recitando, idem Quintilianus observavit, eed 
ohm-uratam tantum modo nobis vix satis intelligendo 2 ). 
Einulem ob causam fortasse vocalem in fine dictionis pro 
brevi habere an si sunt ante sibilum S et mutam conso- 
nantem, in sermone saltern pedestri et poesi eiproxima; 
unicum enim ejusmodi licentiae exemplum in Virgilia- 
nis a Frisciano laudatum 3 ) viri doctissimi Burgefs et 



a) Institut. 1. XI. c. UT. 
2) Ibid. I. IX. c. IV. 
5) Acneid. XI. 309. 



i85 

Heyne interpolatum esse demonstrarunt. In sermoni- 
bus tamen Horatianis haud infrequens est; neque Lu- 
cretius earn vitasse videtur. 

§. CLXVIL 

In Homericis crasis locum non obtinet nisi inter 
articulum vel pronomen et vocalem brevem in vocis 
subsequentis initio; narii xdyto, nQovjisptpe , nQOvvvipe, 
7igov(p<xcvs , etc. solute scribenda sunt, KAI 'ErSL, 
IIPOEIIEMIISE, IiPOETTIlTZEi IIPOE$AINE> 
etc. sicuti HP0EPT22E, UPOE\EPTE, 11POE- 
\-HKE, etc, quae, demto tantum spiritu, pristinam alio- 
qui formam in vulgaris conservasse videntur. Si autem 
prima in his syllaba crasi producta esset, versus aliquan- 
do initium ab ea cepisset* quod nusquam evenit. Ne- 
que in verbo ullo composito augmentum temporis ullius 
praeteriti praepositioni praefixum est; sed inter earn et 
verb um locum semper habet : composita enim erant ad- 
buc tantum, non, ut postea , conjuncta. 

fl. CLXVIII. 

Apud Atticos in carmine serio spiritus asper vel den- 
sus \ nullam omnino vim metricam habuit, quanquam 
eo praecipue gaudebant: at in Homericis facultatem 
flustinendae, itemque producendae vocalis, Heliodorus, 
metricae artis inter veteres antistes, ei tribuisse vide- 
tur 1 ); quam nos quoque concedere oportet, nisi hia- 
tum, quem in caesura tantum Homerica poesis agnoscit, 
locis quam maxime alienis ferendum esse statuamus. In 
Pindaricis quoque eandem potestatem habuisse necesse 



1) Vide Eustath. p. 1465. 1, 10, 



est; hiatus enim iis tantum locis occurrit, ubi dialectic 
antiquis (• vel F vocalem excepisset. Comici etiam At- 
tici et leviorum carminum scriptores ovdi tig , p^d* 
etc. ubique admiserunt; et Menandii fragment m ovdl 
iT^ Gtoojotf olojg exhiDet 1 ), quo tragicus neque hiatum 
ncque elisionem ejusmodi admittere ausus esset. 

§. CLXIX. 

De spiritus alterius vocalis^F vi metrica aliquid cer- 
ti dicere admodum difficile est, cum jamdiu anteAlcxan- 
drinorum tempora prorsus exoleverat, nisi obscuris ali- 
quot Italiae, Cretae et Peloponnesi dialectis , quas illi, 
tanquam horridas, incultas et semibarbaras, adeo con- 
temnebant , ut scire dedignarentur: male profecto con- 
sulentes rci , quam tractandam susceperant, quonijin 
quaeque dialectus , quanto incuhior eeset , tanto anti- 
quissimae propior, ct ad poeein antiquissimam illustran- 
dam aptior. 

§. CLXX. 

Priscianus, quern olim sequuti sumus , parem fa- 
cultatem in metro tu> F concessit, atque alii ioi y, voca- 
lem scilicet antecedentem producendi , vel corripiendi, 
vel resorbendi etiam, prout poetae libuerit. 

,,Illi (Acoles)," inquit, ,,>olebant accipere digamma 
F pro consonante simplici, teste Astyage, qui diversia 
hoc ostendit versibus, ut in hoc vorsu 

'OIOMENOX FE.iE\ i\ i:iik:iiiui. 

Sic nos quoque pro .'simplici habemus consonante pie- 
mmque V loco F digamma positum , ut 



i) Apud Athenaeum I. XIII. c. VIU. ed. Schw«ighatM«. 



i85 

At Venus haud aniino nequicquam exterrita 

mater. 
Est taraen quando Aeoles idem F inveniuntur pro 
duplici consonante digamma posuisse , ut 

NE2TOPA AE FOT ILA1A02. 
Nos quoque videmur hoc sequi in praeterito perfecto 
ct plusquamperfecto teniae et quartae conjugations , in 
qui bus I ante V consonantem posita producitur, eadem- 
que subtractacorripitur, utCUPIVI, CUPII; CUPIVE- 
RAM, CUPIERAM; AUDI VI, AUDII; AUDIERAM. 

Inveniuntur etiam pro vocali correpta hoe digamma 
illi usi , ut Alcman 

KAI XEIMA ntP TEJAFION: 
est enim dimetrum iambicum, et sic proferendum F, ut 
faciat brevem syllabam. Nostri quoque hoc ipsum fecis- 
ee inveniuntur , et pro consonante V vocalem brevem 
accepisse , ut Horatius SYLVAE trisyllabum protulit in 
cpodo hoc versu , 

Nivesque deditcunt Tovem, nunc mare nunc sylvae: 
est enim dimetrum iambicum conjunctum penthemimeri 
heroicae, quod aliter stare non potest, nisi SYLVAE tri- 
eyllabum accipiatur. Similiter Catullus Veronensis 

Quod zonam solvit diu ligatam, 
inter hendecasyllabas Phalaecias posuit; ergo nisi SOL- 
VIT trisyllabum accipias , versus stare non potest. Hoc 
tamen ipsum in derivativis vel compositis frequenter 
solet fieri, ut VOLVO, VOLUTUS; SOLVO, SOLU- 
TUS; AVIS, AUCEPS, AUSPICIUM, AUGURIUM, AU- 
GUSTUS; LAVO, LAUTUS; FAVEO , FAUTOR. 

F digamma Aeoles est quando in metris pro nihilo 
accipiebant, ut 



i86 . 

"JMME2 A FEIPANAS TO AE T 'AT 
GETO MS12A AIT At. L 

est enim hcxametrum heroicum. Apud Latinos quoque 
hoc idem V invenitur pro nihilo in raetris , et maxirac 
apud vetustissimos comicorum , ut Terentius in Andria 

Sine irwidia laudtm invenias, et amicos pares-. 
est enim jambicum trimetrum; quod nisi SINE IE 
pro tiibracho accipiatur, 6tare versus non potest. 

Sciendum tamen, quod hoc ipsum Aeoles quidem 
uhique loco aspirationis ponebant, eiFugientes spiritut 
asperhatcm," Lib. I. p. 646. 

9. CLXXI. 

Ex his ccrtissime constat, vocalem 2? saltern in vo- 
culis JJE, i i. II'.. eke etfsionean ante spiritun 

esse Aeolicorum poetarum cxemplaribus, quae 
l'ii>cianus, sexti p. Ch. n. saeculi grammaticus, in 
xerat; Alcmanis enim versum citat pro cxemplo commu- 
nis usus, non prodigii cujusdam unici ac singulari:?. In 
Homericis autem adeo rara est ejoamodi licentia, et 
locis omnibus non interpolatis adeo lcnicorrectionecoer- 
cenda, ut earn e rhap6odorura et dtaatctraoToiv inscitia et 
temeriiate potius, quam e veteris linguae consuetudine, 
prof'ectam es^e. facile dixeris. 

Ex hemistichio a Prisciano supra laudato plane li- 
quet, Aeoles F pro \ in pronomine positiro usarpasse; 
et in Homericis ante tertium ejus casuiu 6ingularem vo- 
calis brevis semper .-ustinetur, et syllaba nature brevif 
saepe producta est: unde viri doctissimi Bentlev et H 
ne I OI pro 1-0/ scripserunt. At unum duntaxat casum 
ita pronunciatum et scriptum fuisse vix unius hominis 
vel unius gentis aut aetatis sermoni convenire puto . et 



i8 7 
credere malim, spiritum asperum fortius, densius ac du- 
rius pronunciatum esse in hoc casu tertio, ut facilius a 
recto plurali distingueretur. 

§. CLXXIL 

Spiritus f- et F inter se commutabiles fuisse una 
eademque dialecto , voces FET02 et nENTA\ETH- 
PFZ in tabula Heracleensi plane demonstrant x ) ; neque 
dubitandum, quin uterque, more vocalis potius quarn 
consonae, ore raodice aperto et aere exspirato, pronun- 
ciatus sit; quanquam F leniore exspiratione et ore stri- 
ctiore paullulum quam f-5 baud ita tamen, ut ulla rei 
metricae ratione cogi vel evinci possit, brevem sylla- 
bam in spiritum aut liquidam desinentem , ut ON, AP, 
02", etc., ob F subsequutum necessario produci potuis- 
fie. Ejusmodi idcirco, etiamsi tam pauca ac rara inHo- 
mericis, ut jure su6picionibus obnoxia haberentur, at- 
tentare aut vexare mihi religio sit. Pindarus autem, qui 
digamma adhibuisse videtur, non qua ratione in Home- 
xicis, sed qua in tabulis Heracleensibus Dorice scriptis 
usurpatum est, syllabam brevem , cujus litera finalis \i» 
quida vel spiritus est, ante spiritum ilium vocalem nus- 
quam productam habet; quamvis elisae seu amputatae 
vocalis in ejusmodi locis exempla perpauca sint et su- 
©picionibus obnoxia. Constantia tamen in hac re a poe- 
ta, qui diversa carmina diversis patronis diverse loquen- 
tibus scripserit, haud exspectanda est; etsi non facile 
credam , diversos eum scribendi modos in eodem carmi- 
ne sibi permisisse: nam Homericae verborum formae, 



2 ) Sic Bruttiorum urbis nomen, quod priiis HIPO fair, poste* 
VIBO scripturo est in nuixunis- 

N 



iff 

quas contractioribus sui ipsius saeculi ubiqae immiscuit. 
pro poeticis tunc habebantur, et a poetis omnibus tam 
lyricis quam epicis , ut sui juris, usurpabantur; non ea 
quidem licentia, qua postea Alcxandrini usi sunt: nam 
Pindarus licet 'aFESAON et 'ACJAOX, 'AFATA et 
*ATA promiscue, pi out magis expedire visum esset, scri- 
pserit, monstra ista fucata recentiorum. KPAATA, TE- 
PA AT A, 'TIHE2, etc., prorsus ignoravit. 

§. CLXXIII. 

Ex eadem tabula Heracleensi constat, F in compo* 
•iti6 supprimere Kcuisae; neque veteris linguae iatio- 
nem impedimento esse, quo minus ex F12, et F/&1 
"jfhh/MOZ fieri possit; neque enim stabiliorem validio- 
rcmve in loco tuendo fuisse alioquin hunc spiritum li- 
t< ns aliis consonis ac liquidi& crrdendum est; sed quo- 
mod o A' et A ex *APAPKSkl ftl _ l/'JBSl , quo ties cxpe- 
dii.s<( t, tictswrillt, ita ut APAPSUL et EI fill fierent, 
•ic F ex YTFJSIP (ab f ducto), ita ut yjj: 

priorecorrcpta,quotiespoetaeli! ictum sit. Usita- 

tiiistamtncr.it, si quando consonavelliquida vel -piritus 
elideretur, vocalem antecedentem aut tubsequentem pro- 
duci; ut in TESMJii't VA pro TEQNftKOl HA 

pro '7; a . ill ! , E9MKA et / et 

E JO Alt. et tot aliis. Pari ratione credo, IIUZ ex 
\-AF02l, 'MTM ^ ! HEAIOZ ex \Ai 

A/OX, \ilMi c\ B£Mf, et alia ejusmodi iniinita orta 
esse; quae, quo facilius lector quilibet discernere pos- 
sit, notanda apice circumflexus cuiavimus. 

§. CLXXIV. 
Sic quoque, duplicata , quae alias producu est , li- 



i8 9 

tera, 'EEAA03IAI, *EEAASIP, 'EEPTSl, etc. ex 
\-EAAOMAf, \EAASIP, \EPrSl, etc. facta esse po- 
tuerint ; nisi ex augmentatis verborum positionibus pri- 
marum loco receptis potius deducenda esse videantur; 
alia enim ratione solitus linguarum progressns in curtan- 
do et corripiendo inverti nequit, neque voces produ- 
ctiores e brevioribus in prima positione fieri, 

§. CLXXV. 

Quaenam signa literarum dupla scribenda sint, aut 
quae singula ac simplicia ex usu ac consuetudine tan- 
tum loquendi producenda , melius ac certius constantia 
vcl inconstantia pronunciandi et ratione grammatica, 
quam veterum auctoritate scire et discernere licet: nam 
ars scribendi, dum rara adbuc erat, etapaucis, atque 
lis baud e trivio bomunculis, intellecta, non pro vulgi 
captu exercebatur, sed eorum, qui ea scientia praediti 
erant, ut quae manca et trunca relicta essent, facile 
supplere possent. Qui scribebant itaque, brevitatis stu- 
dio indulgebant, et literas singulas pro binis, et duplici 
potestate praeditas tantum non in omnibus adhibue- 
runt: unde duo spiritus vocales F et y paullatim in de- 
suetudinem abierunt, et signa inventa sunt, quae bina3 
literas singula exprimerent. Nonnulli etiam, Etrusci 
praesertim et Latini veteres, vocalem unicuique conso- 
nae adjunctam in nomine ejus sonnndo, ut A rw K et 
to7 2, E toi A et iw T, JrwlZ, TrojMetN, O toj P, 
etc. pro parte ejus habebant, atque in scribendo prorsus 
omittebant; unde in eorum titulis sepulcbralibus , etc. 
LARCNA et MARCNA pro LARCANA et MARCANA, 
TITN1 pro T1TINI , et alia ejusmodi quamplurima sa- 

N 2 



igo 

gacissimns Lanzius obserravit *). Econtrario Hterae Ro* 
manaeQ, a Graecis, ItalisetSiciliensibusacceptae, vocalis 
U nusquam non subjuncta est, quia noraen ejus anti- 
quum apud eas gentes non KAIH1A, sed KTvel CU 
erat. 

5. cum 

Sic in aliis recentiores literas redundantes inculca- 
bant; et ubicunque syllaba e tono et impetu pronun- 
ciandi produceretur, earn, geminata consona, aut in- 
scrto jfvel /, scribebant; uncle orta sunt oxxi, o^jio- 
rf, ou(jfa, ovl i'/wtcos\ riovlvg, nuooj, etc.; quae 
nusquam occurrunt, nisi ubi syllaba prior priorem ia 
y< .!<• locum obtimt, ita ut e tono producenda sit; qua- 
reneque nequejTap, ver , casu r 

usqnam in Homericis usurpatur, cum in illo *0P02 et 

//\ jtiioribus COrreptif, esse debuerint *). Sub 
In -ji) secundi post Christum natum saeculi, bonis arli- 
bn- ac Uteris jam dt-ficimiibus , diphfhongum EI pro / 
lon^o ubiqur adbibere moris erat, neglccta oinni vete- 
rum auctoritate et ratione grammatica, ita at llOJ 
TH2, NEIKHt tc consumer scribe* 

Nis, in originibus ei vocibus primariis auctoriutrm 
veterum , quatenni innotuisset, religiose sequuti, in 
derivatis rationi grammaticae periiule obtemperandum 
esse censuimus; earn enim in Homericis ratio melrica 
ubique confirmat et dex&OOSUat. 



1" S iggi ^cpr.i le lirigue morte d' Italia, p. 11. c. III. 

2) \)H>Uonius RhodiUS in limati- ;' xal 01 

t > etc. adiuisit, quae ia Hon . !lo mo do lo- 

cum liAbeic potuisicnt. Arg. J- 160. cd. .Bruiic*. 



191 

§. CLXXVII, 

Etsi versus antitheticos in strophis et antistrophis 
Pindari supra §. CXII. in testimonium adduxi, me ta- 
men fateor pro lubrico prorsus et incerto habere, quid- 
quid de mensura syllabarum e ratione metrica , qua vel 
ille vel tragici in canticis usi sunt, colligi possit: nam 
quae sit ea ratio, mihi diligenter perquirenti nondum 
comperisse contigit; neque viri ingenio et doctrina in- 
eignes , qui hoc nostro saeculo earn expediendam , ex- 
plicandam et monstrandam susceperunt, aliud quam 
quantae sint tenebrae, quibus ejusmodi studia involuta 
et impedita sint, ostendisse videntur. Carmina ea, quae 
cantu quodam exquisitiore, vocis varia et diversa fle- 
xione et modulatione producto et ntnouuXfa'vco recitari 
solebant, dum continuato instrumentorum sono tenor 
pronunciandi fulciretur, et ultra communem sermonis 
usum et consuetudinem proferretur, numeris aut lege 
solutis, aut legi saltern minus severae subjectis, compo- 
sita esse, credere licet; ita ut syllabae syllabis et pedes 
pedibus in strophis et antistrophis non omnes omnibus 
invicem responderent , tametsi mensura quaedam utris- 
que communis comparata es6et, qua singulae singulis 
totae convenirent, quamvis partes discreparent. De- 
mosthenes plane distinguit ifufier^ovg ab adof.tiv(ov 
poetis * ); eos scilicet, qui versus justa symmetiia defi- 
nitos, et justo ordine distributos, quales sunt Homen, 
Alcaei, Sapphus, etc. ab iis , qui cantica , qualia sunt 
Pindari et tragicorum, liberiore spiritu et cursu compo- 



i) uIots xal rove t/uutrpov? xal tojp dSoutvojv '7roirjtds i *<& 



1Q2 



nebant, atque arti minus severae tibicinis et citharoedi 

plurimumindulgebant x ). Grammaticorum autera sapien- 

tia, ornni ejusmodi indulgentiae et Hcentiae semper inirai- 

cissima, in iis corrigendis et reformandis, et ad regulam 

quandam et normam artis redigendis, tandem adhibita 

est; multis semper post saeculis, omni ejusmodi poc6i 

jamdudum prorsus extincta, et aliia bonis artibus et li- 

teri6 sub imperatorum Romanorum dominatione jacen- 

tibus et oppressis: Cicero enim omnes ejusmodi cona- 

tus ignorasse videtur*), neque Quintilianus pro alio 

quam importunismolestorumhominum nugis habuii 

IVluki taraen postea in ea arena sudarunt, atque demura, 

sexto post Christum natum eaeculo ineunte, Eugenius 

rinvx, qui Anastasio imperante jam senex Con-tanti- 

nopoli docebat , lv //(Mtyu tXQltnr tmv fitUxaiv u£J9jy- 

io\ . EotpQxXtQVQ Xfi nfou dno doufiuituv niviixui- 

titxu * nf(Ji tou zi to nan /(tow, x. t.A." 4 ), 

acumine, quod ipsi proculdubio illi poetae in primis stu- 

puisseut, vix crcdituri, quanta scicntiae et artificii sub- 

tilitate carmina texuis6enU lluic homini foitasse maxi- 



ule Athenaei 1. X. c \ XXIX c,\. S l.weigb. locum obscu- 
rum sane ct Intellect u difficilem; e quo tamen colli^ere licet, 
quantum ex arte citbarisue sen Mpotft 
camicorum in snophti, amistropbas et epodos dependeret. 

S) A modis quibusdam cantu rcmoto, soluta Yiderur esse or»- 
tio, maxim eque id in optimo quoque eorum poetarum, qui 
IvQtxo) I Graecis nomin.uitur , quo* cum cantu spoliaveris, 
nuda paene remnnet oratio. Cic. orator. 

5) In adeo molestos incidimus grammaticos , qaara fuerunt 
qui lvricorum quaedam caiuiina in varia* mensural coege- 

nuu. Quintil. iiiititutionos. 

4) Suidas in r. 



193 

ma ex parte debentur canticorum formae, quae vulgo le- 
ctae sunt ante quam Burney, Brunck et Porson alias 
nuper indiderunt, doctius quidem et ingeniosius exco- 
gitatas, at nulla tamen veterum auctoritatesancitas, qua 
antiquiore8 aut magis e mente poetarum esse ostende- 
rentur: omnis enim de hac re doctrina, quae linguam 
Graecam tot tantisque pedum etversuura nominibus ses« 
quipedalibus ditavit vel oneravit, a molestis istis gram- 
maticis, quos reprehendit Quintilianus, originem acce- 
pisse videtur, neque ulli priorura et feliciorum tempo- 
rum scriptori omnino innotuisse. Plato canticum, to fit' 
Xog 9 ix zqiwv Gvyxeiiuvov, loyov ti ttcti aQfiovlag xal Qvdf-iov , 
esse, nulla rnetri mentione injecta , diserte docet x ); 
neque Hephaestio, secundi post Christum natum saeculi 
grammaticus, in suis carminum veterum cxemplaribus 
versum, qui non in integra voce finem habuerit, agno- 
vit 2 ), paucissimis quibusdam, quos reprehendit vel ex- 
cusat, exceptis: neque Horatius, lyricorum Graeco- 
rum , quos desideramus, imitator et interpres eximius, 
ejusmodi licentiam sibi unquam permisit: nam versus 
19. et 1. carminum 1. II. 2. et 1. IV. 2. in „beatorum" et 
,,admirari" fmiuntur, altero ,,beato — ;" et nomine 
„Iulc" post alterum disyllabo pronunciato ; atque xofAficc 
XrjxTixov seu reXixov dactylici hexametri, Sapphico hen- 
decasyllabo tertio subjunctum, quod metrici recentio- 
res versum Adonium denominarunt, non pro versu in- 
tegro, sed pro membro, versui praecedenti adjecto, ha- 
bendum est (vide 1.1. 2. vs. 19, 20. etc. etSapph. fragm. in 



x) De republics I. III. p. 393. D. eel Serr, 

a) ttoiv fjtitQov els zekuay mgazoorat It^iv , *. r. X. c. IV* 

8. 3. 



19^ 

Brunei*. Analect I et V.). Nostri tamen hodierni oanti- 
corum Pindari et tragicorura redactores versus tantum 
non omnes, mediis dissectis vocibus, definiunt et di- 
stinguunt ; qua ratione versus solutos tragici Italici 
IWetaetasii qui vis nainore etiam negotio in strophas et 
antistrophas invicem respondentes redigere poseit. 



J I P S I A 

JMPRESSIT BE.M.DICTVS CuTTHlLPVi TEVBNERV5. 



63 



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